Almost Lover
by Carrie Swinton
Summary: All human. When Bella breaks up with long-time boyfriend Edward, she finds love with Jasper, her best friend, but is he the guy that she thinks she knows or someone else? Will her past come back to haunt her? BellaxJasper.
1. My Story, My life

_Twilight characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer._

_New work that I'm testing out. Reviews? _

_It's short because it's a starter. Background information. You know. _

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_(BPOV)_

I'm Bella Swan. I'm 18 years old. I live with my mom but my mom still wears her wedding ring, because my parents aren't divorced.

My dad died with my brother 17 years ago in a car crash.

This is my story.

I've never really wondered what my father was like. My first word had been 'Daddy'. I knew I loved him with all my heart even though I didn't know him. However, I learnt from an early age that talking about my dad would only hurt my mom. I knew that she had pictures of him under her bed and sometimes I would sneak and look at them, but she never mentioned him. She must have noticed my cravings for information for my dad but she never said a word. I never asked and she never told.

I knew my dad had brown hair and brown eyes. A bit like me, actually. My eyes are exactly like his, but I have the same hair colour as my mom. I'm a bit like them both, but I heard once that my fraternal twin was different.

Even though I didn't badger my mom about dad, I wanted to know about my twin. I had an older fraternal twin, which is really cool, even though he's dead. Mom never told me what he was called, and every time I asked her eyes would well up. It must be hard to have lost your son and your husband at the same time. Nevertheless, my mom used to tell me stories. One of them was that I wouldn't stop crying in bed unless my twin was in the same crib. She told me that my twin was the only person on the planet that could stop me crying at that age. If I fell over and started crying all my twin did was my twin put his hand on my face and I would stop crying. Period. She told me I cried and cried for weeks after they died.

I've seen pictures of my twin; he was as different as my mom described. My dad, my mom and I had brown hair and brown eyes. He had blonde hair, which was common for small brunette boys, but it was the type of blonde that you knew was his natural hair colour. He also had bright blue eyes. People thought that we actually adopted him, but he was 100 percent my brother.

My brother was the first one. He was the one that said 'Mommy' first, and a few short weeks later he had accomplished the word 'Daddy'. At that time, I was still resolute on the word 'Daddy' and was too stubborn to learn any other words. My brother was the first one to crawl, the first one to walk, the first one to laugh, the first one to teeth. I was always lagging behind the bigger brother I had. And yet, I couldn't help but adore him.

That was my life.

The only part I have left of my brother is a special necklace. It's half an oval and my brother had the other half. It's unique because on one side it has my name on it, whilst concealed on the other side there's half a picture. It has me as a child. Mom told me that my brother had the other half when he died and when you put the necklaces together they would form a picture of us two. Apparently we were wearing the same clothes, and that's how I can tell if someone is my twin.

I always wore it whenever I wore something to hide it, because not many people knew about my twin.

To think about it, I didn't even know him.


	2. Loves, lies and letters

_Disclaimers: Stephenie Meyer, the woman who created Twilight._

_Exams, hate them. Hate the results that come with them too..._

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School was usual. My boyfriend picked me up for school. I stunned the people of the school by going out with Edward Cullen, the most illegible bachelor in the whole of Forks. I know, it's sad but I wish I was half as good-looking as he was. He said I was more beautiful than a rose. I laughed at that. It was a good thing though, going out with Edward. I loved him and he loved me. It was a fact. Edward, like me was an only child growing up. When I was small I wished for a Prince Charming. Edward was that and more.

He walked around the door and opened if for me as we parked in the car park. I smiled as Edward took my bag in his arms. I got out of the car and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Edward said to me in a silky voice. My spine shivered.

"Since when did you get my bag for me?" I asked him, taking it back. He shrugged.

"Since when did you get so beautiful?" he asked and he pulled me into a kiss. It wasn't his normal loving kisses. This time he was more passionate, hungrier and he wanted more. I heard a person squeak, "Morning Bella, Edward."

I pulled away and saw Alice.

Except it wasn't like Alice. Her hair wasn't styled but it lay flat of its own accord. She had no make-up on and she had large purple rings around her eyes. Her eyes were puffy as if she had been crying all night. This wasn't what shocked me the most. Alice was wearing a tracksuit top, a plain T-shirt and baggy jeans. The only thing that was Alice was her gladiator shoes. I ran to her.

"What's wrong Alice?" I asked. She shook her head. I looked at Edward. He groaned.

"Alice, just tell her," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair. She gave him a reproachful look and she walked away.

"Alice!" I shouted, following her. When I caught up with her, tears were falling heavily down her cheeks. She saw me catch up and she walked away quicker. I only sped up.

"Alice, what's wrong? Why won't you tell me? We tell each other _everything_," I said desperately. She stopped. I stopped. She looked at me, and more tears leaked out of her eyes.

"Jasper broke up with me," Alice said tearfully. She carried on walking. Jasper was her boyfriend. Well, ex-boyfriend. He was also my best friend. Well, now ex-best friend.

"You were happy together! Why?" I said in a sister-like fashion. She only shook her head.

We headed to our English lesson. I sat next to her instead of Edward. I knew Edward would understand. All through that lesson she wouldn't tell me what was wrong. It made it worse when we had to read Romeo and Juliet as part of our assignment. She only leaked more tears. It wasn't Alice. Why did Jasper have to be so heartless? Did he know how much Alice loved him? I felt bad when I had to leave her to go to Government. I was incensed by the fact I sat next to Jasper in that lesson. It's complicated about who Jasper was. He was an only child, his mother died during childbirth. He was supposedly going to have a twin, but that twin died in the womb because they couldn't get it out quick enough, even by C-section. Despite people didn't know my story, I felt compassionate towards him because he'd experienced the same as me. Compassion has a line and he crossed it.

That goes the same for best friends.

As soon as I sat down I inched as far as I could away from his seat. I immersed myself in doodles. I heard a chair being pulled bag and I heard Jasper sit next to me.

"Hi, Bella," he said. I looked at him. He looked normal; I only wished the same could be said for Alice. My look turned into a glare. He asked questions but I didn't reply to them. I saw him scribbling something quickly but the teacher was only telling us things. As soon as the teacher turned to write something on the board a piece of paper was slid on my desk.

_Why aren't you talking? We haven't not talked since the time I accidently told Edward you liked him, is it because of Alice? – Jasper._

My heart ached when I read the 'not talked' and 'since'. But the jerk even knew. I hastily scribbled, _Yes it is. How could you be so heartless? She loves you, you know – Bella._

_I loved her, but she didn't love _me._ She proved that last night – J._

_What do you mean she didn't love you? – B._

_What, don't you know? You must be the last person to know – J._

_I don't know what exactly? – B._

The teacher loomed over us and asked us to hand over what was so interesting. We were given detention. I glared at Jasper. It was his fault. Yet, it was partly mine. I had succumbed into writing to Jasper. We didn't talk for the rest of the lesson.

I didn't talk much for the next two lessons; _you must be the last person to know_. Know what? How much a jerk he is? The simple sentence bugged me. It bugged me throughout Trigonometry and through Spanish. I was so disturbed by it that I asked the girl, Jessica next to me what she thought what it meant. She shook her head blankly and returned to her work. I wasn't the last person to know, and this assured me slightly, but I couldn't help but worry.

I ran to lunch, to find out from Jasper. The teacher had let us out really late, so the cafeteria was packed when I went into it. I wasn't that late. Edward and Alice still had to sit at the table. I grabbed a soda and sat at the table. Emmett looked at me cautiously. Rosalie laid a hand on his arm. Jasper sat comfortably next to Emmett. This really surprised me. I thought Emmett would attack Jasper. Jasper just sat there and Emmett allowed it. Emmett was Alice's big brother. His girlfriend was a girl from New York. Which is shocking to be honest, why would someone from New York live in Forks? They were going to move back, but Rosalie found Emmett and they fell in love. Love, seemed to mean everything to those two. And Edward and me, I smiled inside. I opened my soda and smiled at the ones sitting at our table. They smiled back and Rosalie said, "Hello Bella."

I was going to ask Jasper what he meant when I saw Alice and Edward headed towards us. Emmett's face clenched. Rosalie whispered, "Come on, before you break someone's face." They got up and Emmett glared at Alice. Emmett and Rosalie walked away. Alice's eyes widened and then they sat down.

"What's wrong with Emmett?" I asked conversationally. No one replied. I raised an eyebrow.

"Who broke the Xbox or ate the last of the Oreos?" I asked light-heartedly. Alice's eyes started welling up.

"Alice, what's wrong?" I asked, standing up to sit by her side to comfort her. Jasper yanked me down.

"Yes, _Alice_, what's wrong? You don't want your _best friend_ to worry about something you did, do you?" Jasper said spitefully. I stared at Jasper. How could he be so pitiless? He was talking about someone he loved! I never expected him to act so malicious to someone.

"Someone who cares about you so much shouldn't have something like that done to her, should she?" Jasper carried on. Alice was sobbing quietly at the table. Edward was staring fiercely at Jasper.

"Will you tell her _Edward_? I mean, I'm sure you know and she'd believe you, because she loves you."

For the first time I knew him, Edward was utterly speechless. Edward's expression was troubled. I stared at Jasper.

"Oh, well. I'm going to have to tell this interesting story. It involves a party, Rosalie, Emmett, Edward, Alice and me."

"Mike Newton's party on Sunday? Oh. I had to go to Seattle to watch an opera so I didn't go," I replied with a smile. My smile dropped when I looked at Jasper.

"Well, it's a shame you didn't go, Bella, because this party was extremely interesting," Jasper said. Edward's jaw clenched. Alice was crying more and more. I was scared to go next to her. Edward handed her a tissue. Alice dabbed at the oncoming flow of tears.

"At this party, Rosalie and Emmett left early. I wondered why seeing as they are into parties but they didn't reply. They just left. I wondered where Alice was because I wanted to go and I had promised her a _ride_ home." Edward blushed. Was Jasper making an innuendo?

"I asked everyone where she was but no one seemed to know. That was until Mike Newton told me that she was feeling sick and was in his room."

"What was wrong Alice?" I asked, cutting in the story. Alice shook her head. Jasper scoffed but carried on.

"When I approached Mike's room I heard something that disturbed me. So, I opened the door and saw something even worse, what do you think it was Bella?"

"Stop playing games Jasper, just tell her," Edward snarled.

"I'm not the one playing games Edward. You're an excellent liar and game-player," Jasper said and Edward shut up immediately.

"Come on Jasper, just tell me," I begged.

"In Mike's room I saw two people. Alice and," Jasper started. My heart stopped and I said the next word.

"Edward.

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_Review, pleaseeeeee! :)_


	3. We never suited each other

Disclaimers to Stephenie Meyer.

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_[Flashback]_

_I shuffled down the row of seats and sat in the only seat available in the whole classroom. My heart fluttered as I had to sit next to Edward Cullen. Since 5__th__ grade I've always had a little crush on him. He was my best friends' friend. It was almost like Edward was my best friends' best friend. That kind of hurt. I didn't know Edward well, but I wanted a chance like every other girl to get to know him. I had only confided in Jasper (his best friend) that I liked him. Jasper, I felt was the single person I could confide in at the time. Alice would have tried to set me up with Edward and Rosalie was too immersed with her relationship with Emmett. I couldn't tell Edward, I mean, how do you tell someone you like them without it being awkward after it?_

_I sat meekly next to Edward. He always intimidated me. He was just god-like, and I was just below normal. My popularity was just average, too average to co-mingle with popular mortals like him. The teacher started his lecture, as usual. Edward and I didn't speak, as usual. It was 20 minutes before he said._

"_Hey, I didn't catch what he said, can I copy off you?" Edward said suddenly. I gasped. I blushed. I shuffled my pad towards him, as the teacher started drawing a diagram on the board. I looked at his pad. His writing was unique for a boy, so neat. Mine was just a scrawl. I wondered if he could read it._

"_Yes, I can read it."_

_Whoa. Mind reader much?_

"_How did you?" I asked in a stunned voice._

"_You're just easy to read."_

_I blushed._

"_My mom says that too," I replied. _

"_Oh." He said sadly._

"_I'm sorry," I said, realising that he was adopted._

_Edward had been adopted since his mom died from a disease. His father had no idea of his existence and he was named after his father. He was technically Edward Masen Jr., but when he was adopted he didn't want anything to do with his father and his last name changed from Masen to Cullen._

"_Its okay, Esme is like a mom to me," he replied. I felt guilty. Esme was his adoptive mother. Carlisle was his adoptive father and they were decent people. Esme owned a big home renovation company whilst Carlisle was a doctor that the town of Forks were lucky to have. He was also a specialist for the big cities._

"_It must be hard, losing someone that was close to you," I told him._

"_Yeah, but I never knew my first mom much, because she died when I was 5, so Esme is the only mom I know."_

"_I know how you feel," I told him. My breath caught. _

"_Do you?" he asked sceptically. The secret was out now. I was kind of mad that he thought that no one else could ever understand what it's like to lose part of your family._

"_Yes," I said fiercely._

_He just looked at me expectantly. I didn't realise that I had a thing for someone who was so narrow-minded._

"_My father died 17 years ago. I lost two people, my dad and my twin brother," I said, my eyes prickling._

"_Wow, that's just, wow."_

_I blushed. He put a hand on mine._

"_I'm sorry, but I can't imagine losing a parent, never mind a twin," he said in an awestruck voice. We were reprimanded by the teacher for talking. We stopped talking and then copied the diagram that he was depicting on the board. It was a familiar diagram from the textbook we were given at the beginning of the year._

"_It's okay, because I still have my mom."_

"_That's good."_

_For the first time, he didn't look like the intimidating god-like creature I had always had a thing for. He looked like the 17 year old that had just been told that his mother had just died. The emotion in his green eyes was overpowering. _

"_I'm sorry," I said. I knew I had upset him again._

"_I've never met anyone who apologises like you do," he chuckled. He was intimidating again._

"_What do you mean?" I asked. I was slowing growing redder._

"_Well, first of all. People don't apologise all the time to me. Then they apologise without meaning it."_

"_Oh."_

_There was an awkward silence. _

"_So, what are your parents like?" I asked him in a conversational tone._

"_It's...complicated," he replied. I let it drop._

"_What's your mom like?" he asked. _

"_That's just, complicated."_

"_That's hardly any fair," he complained. I glared at him._

"_What?" he asked innocently._

"_I don't like double standards, you can't expect me to talk about my family if you aren't willing to talk about yours," I replied. He chuckled._

"_But, you like... me," he said slowly. I blushed from scarlet to mauve._

"_No, I don't," I replied quickly, a little too quickly. He noticed it too._

"_Jasper told me."_

_I made a mental note to positively murder Jasper. _

"_Um, well," I stuttered incoherently._

_The bell rang and the teacher groaned in a frustrated tone. I scribbled the diagram down without any labels. I started mentally preparing myself for Gym. I had never spoken to Edward like the way I had before. I gathered all my things and threw them in my bag. Edward walked past me._

"_Oh, Bella. I have a crush on you, too."_

_Then he walked away._

_My heart pounded._

_[Flashback over]_

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"I'm so sorry, Bella," Alice was the first to say. My heart was pounding. My face was bright red. I knew it, at the back of my head that Edward was too good for me. Alice deserved him. Alice had _won_ him. I could do nothing.

I stared at Alice and Edward. My throat wouldn't let me speak. I just kept staring. Edward, the one I had loved since 5th grade, who I had thought was my personal Prince Charming, had been cruelly taken away from me. He was no longer the figure of what I saw was perfect. I could feel their shame and Jasper's anger on the table. I could empathise with Jasper. I was mad, I was mad that Alice had done this. We were best friends. There was a little nagging at the back of my head. Alice was never my best friend; Jasper was always my best friend.

We never went together. We never suited each other. I was a book-worm and he was a jock. He was fashionable and I was trying to get last season's fashion in my wardrobe. He drove a Volvo and I drove a truck that was from the last century. We were from two different worlds. We could never go far.

He found his love. I lost mine.

My shoulders sagged as I accepted the fact. I looked apologetically at Jasper. I couldn't help in his rampage to cripple Alice and Edward's affair.

I couldn't, no matter how much they hurt me, hurt them.

"I'm sorry Jasper, I can't do anything. They made their choice," I said. Jasper gritted his teeth.

"See, she doesn't even want to hurt you two," he said loudly. The cafeteria went silent. Jasper stood up and marched out of the cafeteria. He gave Alice and Edward one last scathing look before marching off. The cafeteria started talking again. It was a mark of our friendship that I walked out after Jasper.

"Oh, and if I didn't make it obvious, we're done," I said. I had little anger left, and I used that up by getting my soda and pouring it over his immaculate hair. I didn't care if some of it ended up on Alice. In a sadist kind of way, she kind of deserved it; despite she was crying so much.

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_Review, please? Pretty please with a cherry on the top? _


	4. Got me going crazy

_Disclaimer to Stephenie Meyer. Yes, cos she owns Twilight, instead of people like me._

_Merry Christmas to you all! Hope you had a good Christmas/Boxing Day. I don't know if they celebrate Boxing Day out of the UK, but yeah._

_Okay, so here goes..._

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"Thanks to you, I'm a leper at school," I groaned as Jasper and I played hooky and sat in a park near my house.

"Leper?" he asked. Grinning. I looked into his brown eyes. They were a stark contrast to Edward's bright green eyes. They looked flat, as if they weren't real. I never really noticed Jasper's eye colour. But they were startling unnatural.

"What? Something in my eye?" he asked with a big, goofy grin.

"No," I said blushing.

"So what do you mean leper?" he persisted. I heaved a sigh.

"Lepers were kept out of society because they had leprosy which is a contagious disease. Because I poured soda over the most illegible bachelor in Forks, people will avoid me and because of what I did and my popularity status, despite it being so low, will sink even lower," I explained.

"You are popular, it's just not reflected in a high school of 3 hundred," Jasper said. I scoffed.

"So why did an apple hit my head after I poured soda over Edward?" I asked. Jasper rolled his eyes.

"People have a right to know what he really is like. That applies to Alice as well," he said. He kicked his feet off the ground and started swinging. I followed suit.

"As if, I mean, they're not going to get less popular," I said whilst swinging. I dragged my feet against the asphalt in an attempt to stop. Jasper jumped off his swing and landed cat-like on the asphalt. He looked so graceful. I envied him.

"That's how you get off a swing, Bella."

"If you want to break your neck."

"Remember when you broke your neck before 8th grade?" he asked, laughing. He placed a hand on my arm. Electricity flowed between us.

"I had to sit with a neck brace through the first semester," I said smiling. I was troubled by the feeling Jasper had give me when he had touched my arm.

"Oh, and you had to sit with a broken arm in 10th grade after attempting to climb a tree," he reminded me. He was tantalising close to me.

"That was intended. I was trying to get out of Algebra," I said stubbornly.

"Oh, and you were trying to get Edward to write all the Biology notes for you as well," Jasper said lightly. I gasped. He clapped a hand over his mouth.

"I didn't mean it, I just, it just, slipped out of my mouth, I'm so sorry, Bella," Jasper said, his voice chagrined. My eyes were prickling. A single tear dropped out of my eye. Jasper walked over to me. His arms were wide. I looked away from him. My crying had become harder. Soon his arms were around me. I was sobbing into his chest.

"I can't believe I was that gullible. I thought that this morning he s-still...loved me!" I cried. Jasper's strong arms were around me and his hand made swirling movements on my back. I stopped crying, and I felt calmer.

"It's okay, I mean that's what I first felt when I saw it," Jasper said, "I was like, no way. Not Alice, she wouldn't do something like that. But I had seen it with my own two eyes so there was no changing it."

I said nothing; I was surprised at myself for stopping crying and feeling so calm.

"What's wrong?" Jasper asked suddenly. My eyes met his flat, brown eyes.

"I'm calmer," I whispered. _Stop talking,_ I thought quickly. My gaze was fixed on Jasper's bewildered face.

"Well, that was the point, but I do have that effect on people," Jasper said self-importantly.

"It's funny that I am because," I blurted out without thinking and I stopped what I was saying. I didn't know how to go about it.

"Because?" Jasper asked me.

"According to my mom, my twin was the only person that could calm me down," I said into his shirt, shamefacedly. Jasper backed away. My hands that had fabrics of Jasper's shirt were now empty.

"What twin?" he asked, he was taken aback.

"You know, my twin who died 17 years ago," I started.

"You never told me about any twin," Jasper said in a startled voice.

"I didn't want anyone to know."

"Did you tell Edward?" Jasper asked, and his eyes narrowed at me. I blushed.

"Yes, but-," I said determinedly.

"So you tell someone who you've had a crush on since 5th grade and just brutally broke your heart rather than your best friend?" Jasper asked.

"No! It just slipped out of my mouth when I told him," I said I was crying again.

"Yeah, but when I told you about my twin, you didn't bother to tell me that you had a dead twin as well, and you are the one that doesn't like double standards," he said, his voice breaking every time he said 'you'. My eyes widened. Were we having a fight?

"Jasper, don't tell me your upset because I never told you, are you?" I asked with a weak smile.

"No, I'm not upset," he said with his face hard.

"Oh, that's fine." I said shakily. I reached for him, but he slapped my hand away. I felt my eyes prickling.

"I'm furious," he said at me. He stormed away from the park. The clouds gathered above me. I watched as Jasper's silhouette grew smaller and smaller. Tears were falling by now, down my pale with shock face. The rain started to fall on me. I was reminded of a son my mom used to sing around the house.

_Why does it always rain on me? /is it because I lied when I was seventeen?_

It was raining on me now; disguising the fact I was crying my heart out.

I had lost my boyfriend and two of my best friends in one day. I cried.

The rain didn't clear up and I sat in the rain, crying.

I felt as if my heart was breaking into a million pieces.

I didn't understand why Jasper was so upset; I thought he'd feel the same for me.

I didn't understand why my heart was hurt more by the fact Jasper was mad at me than the fact my ex-boyfriend had cheated on me with my ex-best friend. I couldn't erase the feeling of hatred, the feeling of distrust. Jasper was the only person I trusted, why didn't I tell him?

Why was he so angry? He was never angry at me. I was always the one who was mad at him. I sat in the rain and cried.

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"Bella?!"

I sat still where I was sitting despite hearing the voices call my name. I heard Alice's, Emmett's and Rosalie's voices. I heard my mother's voice. I sat, frozen underneath the swings in the rain. I sneezed.

"She's there!"

I heard a lot of splashing before several arms was around me. My hands were clasped around my knees and I was focused on the ground. I was curled into a ball. My hair lay flat and my clothes were drenched. I made no sign that I knew that there were people around me. Alice's face came into view.

"Bella, are you okay?" she asked. I simply stared at her. Her beautiful face crumpled. My mother's face was in front of me. She looked wild.

"Isabella, I've been looking around for you like a crazy woman in the rain! I got a call that you skipped your afternoon classes and detention. How did you get detention? You never get detention. You are in big trouble, I swear I will wring you dry when we get home," she growled at me.

I just stared ahead. My mom looked blankly at me.

"She's never responded like that before," she said anxiously. She was right, I used to apologize immediately. My brain seemed not be able to function. I tried to get up, but my body was immobile.

I wanted Jasper to come back. I wanted to be in the same place where Jasper left me. I wanted Jasper.

Oh, God. I wasn't in love with Jasper was I?

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_Review, please? _


	5. Lovebug

_Disclaimer to Stephenie Meyer, for writing Twilight._

_I know I haven't updated in ages, but I'm trying to focus all of my creative energy on my other story "The Perfect Girl?" because I've nearly finished it. And the occasional idea comes to my mind which is really bad. So yeah. Chapter 5._

I spent the next day in bed. I was sick with a horrible cold. My lungs ached whenever I took a breath. My head was like a fire alarm. My nose was blocked. My throat was raw. My mom brought me chicken soup. She knew why I had been so unresponsive. She empathised with me. She knew how close Edward and I had been. I sipped on the chicken soup.

"Has Jasper called?" I asked every time my mom came in. She shook her head and said, "It's still school time."

I fell asleep and had nightmares. I saw the flashback of Jasper walking away from me. In some I just sat there and cried. In some I ran after but I couldn't catch up. I cried after each dream. I felt someone prodding me awake.

"Jasper?"

My eyes opened and I saw Alice. I sat up.

"Bella?" she asked, she bit her lip.

"Hey," I said coldly. I focused my gaze somewhere else.

"I'm so sorry," she said. I glared at her. She recoiled at the intensity of the glare.

"Well, what's done is done. There's no going back," I said to her. Alice's lower lip shook.

"I'm dating Edward now," she said to me. I attempted to raise an eyebrow. I was too sick to start another argument.

"Good for you, hope you're happy together," I said as I fell back onto my pillow. My mom came in with Carlisle Cullen, the doctor. I bolted up.

"I didn't know you made house calls, Mr. Cullen," I said as I looked into his striking face. It was hard not to stare at him; he just made you forget you were ill.

"Well, you're a special case Bella," he said modestly.

"Oh."

Alice backed away from the bed and Carlisle just smiled kindly at her.

"Edward's downstairs Alice. Why don't you go downstairs and talk to him?" he said. Alice nodded fervently and ran downstairs. My mom looked disgustedly at Alice's back. She muttered something that only Carlisle could hear.

"It's just teenage stuff, it'll calm down." He replied, he walked beside me and place a hand on my head. He was oddly cold, but probably that was due to the raining outside.

"A temperature," he noted. He looked at my tongue.

"Any headaches, coughs, muscle pain?" he asked softly.

"Two of the three. I haven't gotten out of bed yet," I said with a small smile. He smiled back.

"It's just the flu after the exposure to all that rain. Take some medicine and rest, you'll be okay in a few days," he told me.

"Oh, and let things go quickly. Rip all the excess stress off like a Band-Aid. The quicker, the better, Bella."

He left the room. I heard a car start and Alice came back upstairs.

"What do you want?" I asked her. She stepped back. A tear fell from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Alice. It just came out," I said softly.

"I'm sorry too," she said coming over to me. We cried in each other's arms.

"We've been so stupid, I can't believe Edward was the reason why we weren't friends," Alice cried into my shirt.

"Hey, no blood no foul," I said with a trace of humour. Alice laughed nervously.

"I have to go," she said suddenly. I nodded. Before leaving the door she turned around and said,

"I think you should get with Jasper."

"Why?"

"Because he _really_ likes you."

Whoa, what?

-----------------

Plink. Plunk. Plunk, plunk, plunk. My eyes snapped open. I swore I heard something tap my window. Plink. I walked over to my window and saw Jasper bent over, picking up more rocks. He looked in my direction and saw my face. The rocks dropped from his fingers. He had his guitar in one hand. I opened the window and hissed,

"Do you know what time is it?"

"No, last time I checked it was 11pm, but it must be later than that because you took a long time to get up," he hissed back. I grinned.

"I sleep like a dead person and you know that," I whispered.

"Dead people don't sleep, they're _dead_."

I rolled my eyes.

"If a dead person could sleep, it would sleep like I do."

"Why are we talking about dead people?" he asked quietly. I rolled my eyes again.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know you'd get so mad," I said. He shook his head. He got his guitar. He sang his lyrics silently as he strummed, but I could hear it word for word.

_I'm sorry for getting mad at you,_

_For no reason at all,_

_I hope we can be friends again,_

_Because I've missed your calls,_

_I didn't mean to acted so boneheaded,_

_I hope you do forgive me._

_I promise I never make you sad again,_

_Forever friends we will be._

I grinned after he finished. Jasper was so sweet. He came out and risked the cold at who knew what time. He wrote a song for me, even though I made him mad. I never attempted to call him or anything. The only thing I could do was apologize; I mean what lame-ass thing was that? He wrote a song for me. My pathetic-ness started to make me well up.

A single tear dropped down my face.

"Don't cry, Bella!" Jasper said, "I didn't mean to upset you. Was my singing that bad?"

I laughed through my tears.

"No, it was good, beyond good. I just can't help feel like a pathetic loser for just being able to say sorry. You wrote a song for me. I can't even pick up the phone and call and apologize," I sobbed silently.

"You were ill. I wouldn't even come over here if Alice didn't tell me you had the flu, and I just left you in the rain. I didn't care you weren't in today. I only knew what I did after Alice told me," Jasper said. He dropped his guitar on the wet grass and he climbed up a tree. Soon, he was next to me, sitting in my room, after he climbed his way in here.

"Bella, don't be so crazy again. You know I didn't mean all the things I said," he assured me. His hand was on my back.

I didn't know why I did it, but I couldn't help it. I launched myself at Jasper. My arms were around his back and I hugged him as hard as I could. He looked surprised but I didn't care. I didn't care that I was freezing in my ratty old pyjamas. I didn't care that Jasper was wet. I didn't care if he was 'just a friend'.

I knew he was taken aback. His arms went hesitantly around me. I sobbed into his arms, the tears not stopping. His fingers crawled into my hair. The tears stopped.

"Damn it, stop doing that!" I said. My face was full of tear tracks and I was pulling away from him. His grip was iron. I stared into his face.

"Stop what?" he asked, looking at me.

"Stop calming me down! Damn it! I want to cry and make you feel guilty for making me feel like crap! I want to make you guilty that I'm so ill!" I complained my hands balled into fists.

"Bella, if I wasn't feeling so guilty, do you think I'd be here?" Jasper said whilst burying his nose in my hair.

He had a point.

He didn't let me go. I looked at him, he looked into my face. His eyes were so flat, so unreal. They weren't deep. Not like Edward's were. His eyes were just a flat expanse of brown. His nose was just next to mine. His nose was caressing my cheek. I shivered. He puckered his lips and kissed the side of my mouth. I knew what was coming.

"No, Jasper. I'm ill," I said putting my hands on his chest. I was screaming inside. I didn't know he was so _muscular_.

"I already have the bug," he whispered, his breath on my face.

"Really?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, the Lovebug."

That is when Jasper kissed me.

And boy was I in trouble.

_Yeah. When I wrote this the Jonas Brothers were playing and I thought, "Hey cool name." This is my second song Jonas Brothers' song title offense, the other one being "Got me going crazy." But yeah. Review?_


	6. Are we, or aren't we?

_Disclaimer to Stephenie Meyer. _

_Sorry for not updating! I've been uber-busy. But, the plot thickens._

_------------_

Jasper Whitlock was ill for a week. He was grounded for another. I recovered about a few days into Jasper's illness. He couldn't call and I missed him. He wasn't allowed on the phone. Jasper and I were given a punishment as well as a week's detention for skipping class. We couldn't talk much during class or those days whilst we had to clean the litter in the cafeteria or in detention. We were pretty platonic.

It bugged me that Jasper made no hint that we had a thing. It was definitely a kiss. He definitely said 'Lovebug'. I know it. I could feel it. Doubt crossed my mind. Maybe Jasper got the flu purely by coincidence but not by kissing me. Maybe it was a dream. These assumptions only tore away at my heart and made me more paranoid. I kept thinking what I did wrong, what had I said wrong and what whether or not he liked me.

Edward and Alice were public now. Emmett looked disgusted every time Edward had an arm around Alice. Edward looked nonchalant. I was glad he was happy. I was almost happy. I acted happy in front of Alice and Edward. My happiness seemed to spread around the table. Emmett was more relaxed that I was okay with Alice going behind my back and taking Edward from me. I heard they had a massive fight, Rosalie was rumoured to join in with Emmett against Alice. It was unlike Rosalie but I was grateful. We sat in awkward silences at the table. Later, I figured it would be helpful if I changed tables, but there were no tables spare. No one would let me join, if it wasn't for Alice, Edward, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper as friends, I'd be kicked (literally) out of the school.

"So, you and Jasper huh?" Emmett said, breaking the horrible silence.

"Me and Jasper?" I asked. I looked away from Jasper as he got a pizza and fries.

"You are totally checking him out. You _like_ Jasper," Emmett teased. I threw my apple at him. He caught it with one hand. With a flick of his wrist it was back on my tray.

"No I don't. He's just a friend," I said, blushing.

"You're blushing," Alice and Edward said simultaneously.

"That's because you're accusing me of something that's not true!" I said loudly. There was a clatter as a tray was lowered.

"What are they accusing you of?" Jasper asked as he pulled a chair back. We stayed in a resolute silence. Jasper reached for a few fries. He made no motion towards me.

We weren't seeing each other. We were friends that had just shared a kiss. We were feeling sexually repressed by our cheating partners. It was just a kiss. I didn't mean anything. We weren't going to do anything about it. This only added to my despair. I hated the fact that Alice and Edward looked so happy together. I wanted to be happy with Jasper. Well, I think I did.

"What?" he asked as he ate his fries. We were staring at him. He blushed.

"Is my eating here uncomfortable with you lot?" Jasper asked facing the ground. Emmett grinned as he picked a few fries up.

He threw them Jasper. Jasper ducked and hit his head on the table.

"Ow," he moaned with his eyes closed. He kept his eyes closed and his fingers attempted to grope at the floor.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

"Nothing," he replied. He was lying.

"Jasper, what is it?" I asked worriedly. I bit my lip.

"Jasper! Tell her before her lip bleeds!" Alice said with an edge to it. She was teasing me.

Jasper looked up at me. Everyone gasped. One eye was flat brown. Another was a sparkling blue. The blue brought a dormant ache in my stomach.

"I wear contacts, I just lost one," Jasper explained, "Now the secrets out I guess I don't have to wear these itchy things." He continued to take the other one. My hand grabbed his arm.

"You wear contacts to hide your eye colour? Why?"

My nails were digging into his arm.

"I don't know. My dad just says so, he's a freak. I've worn them instead of glasses; Cullen's dad sorted it out for me."

He took the other contact and I looked into the bright blue eyes. My breath caught. I knew why I had that dormant ache. Jasper's eyes were a sparkling and bright blue. I remembered where I had seen the exact same colour. Blond hair, bright blue eyes, dead twin, no mom and the fact he could calm me down. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Part of me begged it not to be. I stood up and walked away from the table.

"Bella?"

I continued to walk ahead.

"Bella, slow down!"

Jasper had followed me. I could hear his footsteps behind me. I felt a hand grab my arm. My free hand fluttered to my chest. I felt the bump with was the necklace. I turned around and pinned Jasper to the lockers.

"You don't have a special necklace do you?"

"Guys don't have necklaces," Jasper said hesitantly.

"You hesitated!" I screamed loudly. People who had finished their lunch stared at me.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Jasper yelled back. He looked uncomfortable being pinned to the lockers. I let him go and undid some buttons. Jasper averted his gaze. There were gasps. I knew what they were thinking; I turned to the people staring at us.

"Get a life, as if I would strip. This is a public place you assholes," I said with as much venom as I could muster. I turned back to Jasper. I pulled a necklace from under my blouse and showed it to Jasper. Jasper's hands took it gently.

"It just has your name on half an oval," Jasper smiled.

"Turn it over."

"Oh." Jasper turned it over. His smile grew wider. "You were a cute baby. But Bella, stop changing the subject! Why are you so mad?"

"My twin, Jasper! My twin had a necklace like this! He had blond hair, blue eyes, and died with my dad!"

Jasper smile faded.

"My twin was identical, Bella. He was called Jason. My mom died during childbirth. They're cremated. I go to their graves all the time. I'm not him," Jasper said calmly.

I felt calm.

"I can't help it. I just see signs with you all the time, telling me you're my twin," I said softly.

"Would a twin make this," he said whilst tracing a finger up my back, "seem so pleasant and right instead of disturbingly wrong?"

"I guess I freaked."

"Good answer."

That's when he lowered his lips and kissed me. All the worries that he didn't like me _in that way_ vanished.

Oh yes, we so are together.

----------

_Ack. Review?_


	7. A Moment Like This

_I am so sorry for not updating. I'll stop blogging here, so you can read. (:_

_----------_

"Maybe he is," Alice said, pointing at a blonde haired, blue-eyed boy in the middle of Port Angeles.

"Ha ha," I replied sarcastically, "Tease me, why don't you?"

"Sure," Alice said chirpily. I rolled my eyes and walked in the opposite direction. She soon caught up to me.

"Have you grown up yet?" I asked her as she wheezed. Alice only ran when there was a sale, apart for that she was worse than me at running, and I fall over every 10 metres, on a good day.

"Admit it, you were a little crazy," Alice said, giggling. I made a face.

"Yes, okay, I was a little crazy," I said truthfully.

"And how was it when it all worked out?" Alice asked, "Something completely amazing? Was you're first kiss together like a bunch of fireworks going off in the darkened sky?"

"Alice you need to stop reading romances," I replied drily.

"Just answer the question!" She insisted. I groaned.

"It wasn't our first kiss, Alice; we're already married for goodness sake!" I replied in a voice that made me sound more middle-aged than ever.

"What?! And you didn't even ask me to be a bridesmaid? You went to Vegas right?" Alice asked in a tone that suggested that she actually believed me.

"No. We married in a cardboard church, exchanged daisy rings in an age called kindergarten," I said with a wicked smile on my face. Alice nudged me in the ribs in response.

"If you do get married, you have to let me plan," Alice made me promise. In fact she grabbed my pinkie finger and made me pinkie swear.

"I'm not even considering marriage anyway," I said with a laugh. Alice gave me her best _shock, horror_ pose.

"Whatever. Are you going to prom with him?" Alice said, choosing the nearest event on the agenda.

"No. You know how I feel about prom," I replied. Alice glared at me.

"You are not missing prom, that is the main event of senior year, we go to prom and then we graduate, you know you're so uptight about prom and dances, it's one of the reasons that E-!" Alice ranted before cutting off. I inhaled deeply.

"Edward didn't like me because I thought prom was a sad excuse for trying to put a group of people who obviously hate each other in a room in an attempt for pacifism?" I asked incredulously.

"I didn't say that," Alice said quietly. It was too late, the damage was done. I walked into a reasonable dress shop. I flicked through the dresses in fury.

"Well, that's all right, because it's Edward and he was so last century, literally, you just hit the last nail in closure," I said acidly as I dismissed each dress angrily. The metal on the top of the hangers were screeching in some kind of unsaid agony.

"Bella..." Alice said.

"It's fine!" I shrieked. I moved across the store and looked at some more dresses. "You know, that's why I love Jasper so much, because at least he shares my point of view of prom."

"That it's some sadist attempt to throw the seniors together to try and make us love each other?"

"Exactly!" I shouted and turned around to see Jasper. Oops.

"You are such a dork," Jasper laughed, patting my head. Edward was here too, his arms around Alice. Alice gave me a warning look to not carry on the rant. I gave her my Olympic winning eye roll.

"Are you going on about how much you hate prom again, Bella?" Edward challenged. I chanced a look at Alice, this time, he was definitely asking for it.

"Yes," I replied shortly and sourly as possible. Edward cracked a smile. I willed myself to stop looking at him. The crooked smile, damn, I thought I had closure.

"It's not so much about what happens during dancing, its moreorless what happens after," Edward said slyly. "You know. _Prom Night_."

I hacked a cough. Yes, I definitely had closure. Jasper coughed and grabbed my shoulders.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to take Bella out of here, before she realises she's actually considering prom dresses and passes out," Jasper said helpfully. He steered me out of the shop away from Alice and Edward. That was definitely why I loved Jasper so much, he was so considerate. He seemed to realise at some point, if I was in that small shop any longer I would have strangled Edward with a dress.

"He is such a jerk," I muttered as Jasper and I walked over to where he had parked his motorbike. Jasper threw me a helmet. I hesitated.

"You're not scared of the Harley are you?" Jasper asked worriedly. I shook my head. Jasper didn't believe me.

"Okay, you're not afraid to punch Edward Cullen in the face, who can easily hurt you back, but you're afraid of a sitting on the back of a bike which is really safe, because I'm a conscientious driver?" Jasper reasoned. He had a point. I nodded and he sat on the seat. He patted on the back where I had to sit. I sat down on it, not trusting Jasper completely.

"Helmet," Jasper reminded. I fumbled as I stuffed it on my head. Jasper knocked on it, showing me it was entirely safe.

"Right, off we go," Jasper said and he accelerated. I grabbed onto him.

The wind that was hitting the helmet instead of my face was pleasant. The rest of my hair that was exposed to the wind was flying and it felt surreal. The world was passing by in a blur, like a movie that had been speeded up. I tightened my arms around Jasper. This moment was perfect.

---------

"Ta-dah!" Jasper said as he parked the bike. I looked at him.

"Um. We're in the middle of a forest," I noted. Jasper hacked a laugh.

"You wait," Jasper said, and he blindfolded me. He walked me around somewhere, and it felt like I was walking in some sort of a circle. I could hear the cracks of small animals scampering on the forest floor. As we kept walking, I heard the soft sounds of splashes. Wait, it was getting louder. It was like a waterfall. A waterfall?

"Bella, you might get a bit wet, alright?" Jasper said. Oh, God. Jasper was going to push me off a waterfall, and I had no idea why. He was going to kill me and no one knew. Only I had kept this little meeting to myself. I begged to myself that Alice would piece it back together, realise what Jasper had done. Why? Why would he kill me? Oh, my God, was it because he thought I still loved Edward?! I felt small splashes on one side of my arm as the sounds grew deafening. Then it was gone.

I'm dead. I'm sure I am.

I felt the soft release of something from my eyes, as if I was being unveiled. My eyes opened and adjusted to the light. Candles?

"Bella, you are so paranoid," Jasper said, breaking the silence. His voice echoed.

"How?" I asked dubiously.

"Well, you just said 'I'm dead', and you've twitched since I told you that you might get wet," Jasper said. I blushed.

"Where am I?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Well, I found this place, when you were in Phoenix, and I haven't really found it since last week," Jasper said, "That's why I was so distant, I wanted to find this place again and show you like I wanted to all those years ago."

"Which begs the question, where am I?" I asked again. Jasper took my arm and we walked up to a place where the waterfall was really loud.

Oh, my God.

We were in a cave, underneath the waterfall. I could see the sun setting through the water. It sent crimson light into the cave, twinkling because of the water. It was beautiful.

"I love you, Bella," Jasper said, pulling my face to his.

"I love you too," I whispered. I smiled.

Yes, there was no moment like this, and if I could, I'd freeze time and make it last forever.

-----

_Before you get your pitchforks, I only update so late because I forgot I put this entire story on a USB key and then I wanted to rewrite this, because the original chapter was so cheesy. I've lessened the cheese and introduced a new thing, which helped inspire the end. _

_Oh, and you may be thinking, Jasper and his cave under the waterfall? Well, I figured if Edward was allowed a meadow, then Jasper was allowed something as well. Haha. Right, now you can get your pitchforks and flame me for not updating in the reviews section. _


	8. I Could Get Used to This

_Hey, I'm updating this story, which I haven't had time to write recently. I've been so preoccupied with some other fanfics and such, and then ideas came spewing out and I get obsessed with writing them. I have so many ideas, it's kind of cheesy. _

_But I hope you like this chapter (:_

_-------_

"Bella."

I groaned. This was just mean. It was too early. Far, too early.

"Bella!"

"It's too early!" I muttered in my sleep.

"BELLA!"

"WHAT?" I screamed. Renee jumped back at my fierce reaction.

"Jasper's here for you," Renee said, maintaining her calm.

"Jasper's here for me? It's like 7 o'clock in the morning," I said sceptically.

"It's 1 o'clock in the afternoon," Renee said, throwing the clock at me. I gasped.

"'It's too early'" Renee imitated, "yes, it would be too early if you were a vampire."

"Shut up," I said with a wide grin. I sped downstairs, skidding slightly at the stairs which I jumped down two at a time. I flew into the living room. Jasper was sitting there, twiddling his thumbs as if he was contemplating something quite difficult.

"Hey there," I tried to say sexily, but it came out as a croak. Damn, I hate just waking up and yelling at my mother. Jasper turned to face me, and a grin overcame his face.

"Bed hair," he said pointing at my head, "Nice."

My hands flew automatically to my head and tried to straighten it out.

"No," he said, standing up quickly, his hands moving over to mine, and pulling them away from my messy hair, "I like it like that."

"Thanks."

There was an awkward pause as Jasper's retracted his arm and used it to cover his mouth as he hacked a cough. I chose to stare at my feet. I looked at him and gave him a cheesy grin. Jasper suddenly blushed as his eyes focus on something else. I turned to face the direction he was facing in.

"You two are just a pair of old saps," Renee said, holding an apple and watching us, as if we were a television programme. How embarrassing.

"Mom," I groaned. Renee gave me a 'so what' expression. The next thing I knew, my hands found a cushion on the sofa and it was thrown, with force but without accuracy, at her. She had retreated.

"Just do it Jasper, or you'll regret it!" she called out before running to a safe place. I would kill her later, but for now, I was completely focused on what Jasper had to say to me. He had put his hands on my shoulders. He wasn't only holding me there so I wouldn't run away, he was also holding me there so that I wouldn't run away. Except, I didn't know why he had to hold me anywhere, but nonetheless, I made no attempt to run away.

"Bella, please don't take this the wrong way, or anything, and I know you'll hate me for it, but-," he started to say. I found breathing hard. Was Jasper finishing me?

"I won't, whatever you want, I won't hate you for you, I promise," I said as faux cheerfully as I could. He seemed to take this and he suddenly seemed more relax. I restrained myself from punching his guts. I had never seen a guy so glad that his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend look so happy to finish his girlfriend.

"Well, what I wanted to say was that," he said, removing one of his hands from my shoulder and placing it under my chin. I could feel the calluses on his fingertips from guitar playing under my chin as he tilted my head up, so I was staring into those gorgeous blue eyes he had. He was going to do it now. He's about to say, _you're dumped, _or something more elaborate and guy-like, _it's not you, it's me, _or with a line from a movie, like Spiderman, _no matter what I do, __the ones I love will always be the ones who pay._ And being the gracious being my mother had brought me up to be, I will say something poetic back, like, _sure_ or _okay _or _what the fuck are you trying to do to me?_

Jeez. He was taking his God-awful time. Just get it over with, like ripping of a Band Aid.

"Will you go to prom with me?" he said.

"Sure," I answered sadly as a reflex. His eyes were cast over with wonder, and mine imitated his as I replayed the question he asked through my mind. It had no mention of dumping, or it being him or a Spiderman quote. Instead it had been about prom. I exhaled noisily. I cannot believe I had _doubted_ him, again. What was with me and my paranoia around Jasper recently?

"What?" Jasper asked, "I was sure you were going to throw a hissy fit and say no."

I would have. I really would have. I didn't really want to go to prom in a nice sparkly dress, in nice sparkly high heels and hope to be voted prom queen so I could wear a nice sparkly crown and everyone else would have to soak up my nice sparkly-ness. No, that wouldn't be me. I would have an anti-prom and sat at home, stuffing my face with the most disgusting food known to man. With Jasper. Except, Jasper now wanted to go to prom.

I didn't want to disappoint him. I didn't want him to know why I had said it so quickly, I didn't want him to know I had doubted him yet again. On top of that, I didn't want him to know, although I don't know why, I had just accepted the fact that he would have, hypothetically, dumped me, instead of fighting and getting a justifiable reason why he was dumping my sorry ass. I could only think of one reply.

"That's me," I said in the most disgusting cheerful voice I could muster, "I'm just unpredictable."

----

"Un-fucking-believable," Edward said, stretching the word out as long as he could at the lunch table before adding, "I can't believe you actually convinced Swan to go to prom."

Jasper replied modestly, "Well, I was sure she was going to say no."

Everyone around the table nodded in agreement.

Jasper carried on, "And I was at least expecting a," he said before finishing in a falsetto, "_You_ want to go to prom? What have they done, brainwashed you? Do you want to spend 5 hours in a penguin suit just to impress people you'll never see for the rest of your life after high school?"

I punched his arm playfully. We exchanged secret almost-telepathic messages. It was so special, like we were in our own world.

"Oh, get a room you two," Emmett said, pretending to be sick. Rosalie and Alice chuckled beside him. I laughed back, and Jasper rolled his eyes and muttered something to Emmett which made him stiffen. This only made Rosalie, Alice and I chuckle harder.

"What did you say?" I asked, and Rosalie and Alice leaned in to hear the answer.

"I asked him if his car was acceptable for us two having a private moment, seeing as there aren't any rooms available here," Jasper said with a small smirk on his face. I gave him another punch and stared at the last person on the table. Edward.

He was still as a statue. His face was paler than usual, paler than I had ever seen it. His lips were drawn into a tight line – I had seen how thin his lips could go, but this was the thinnest I had ever seen them. I dare a glance at his eyes, and I realised the mistake I had made. His green eyes that were so piercing on a normal day were stabbing at my skin, as if they were prising my soul apart, nitpicking at the details and trying to get some kind of forbidden information. His fists were clenched around a squashed Coke can, fizz oozing from the top, but he was regarding this fact as if it was little detail. His only attention was on Jasper and I.

"What's wrong, cat got your tongue?" Jasper asked his best friend jokingly. Edward stood up shakily and stormed out of the dining room. Noticing his sudden departure, Alice looked worried and followed him like a shadow. As for the rest of us at the table we sat in confusion, especially me.

Why had Edward looked at me in that specific manner? Why did he freeze up so suddenly as if it was a terrible crime for Jasper and I to do some harmless flirting?

I gulped as I came to one predicament.

Was Edward jealous?

Thankfully, I didn't have long for this question to be answered, because in the next period, he himself answered it for me, with the harshest method possible.

-----

_Interested to know how? Want more? Drop a review? (:_


	9. What comes around, goes around

_Hey guys! _

_Disclaimer to Stephenie Meyer. Unfortunately, I don't own any of the Twilight characters, if I did I'd keep Jasper to myself and not share him with the world (;_

_Probably longest chapter in AL history, but you know, I might just write a longer one next time._

_---_

"What do you see in him?" Edward asked suddenly, breaking the habitual silence between us. Ever since our split, there was an hour of awkwardness in Biology. We kept to ourselves, mainly out of dignity. He didn't want to be reminded of how I had moved on so quickly and I didn't want to remember how he had cheated on me. We didn't even ask each other what page Mr. Banner was talking about. I asked Angela in front of me, and he just eavesdropped on what Angela said, or asked Mike Newton behind him. Fed up of the unease between us I had asked many girls if they wanted to change seats with me, and they had agreed initially, but the fear of sitting next to Edward had put them off. Edward himself had sometimes gone out of his way to glare at girls, and their lust for Edward and their reluctance to get on Edward's bad side had left them sitting next to boys they didn't like. So that day I was really shocked that he had said something to me, so shocked, that all I could say back was,

"Are you talking to me?"

"No, I'm talking to the Queen of Sheba," he replied sarcastically, "Of course, I'm talking to you Swan."

"You don't need to take that tone with me, Cullen," I replied shortly. He coughed. I knew it was his way of apologising when he was annoyed. I knew I wasn't going to get a full apology until he had calmed down, which was unlikely until I answered his question. He looked expectantly at me. I knew that the question was about Jasper.

"Jasper is nice," I summed up.

"And I wasn't?" Edward asked, he looked offended and I knew that I had struck a chord with him.

"If I remember correctly, you cheated on me," I said, not looking at him and trying to keep the accusation out of my tone. It didn't keep out the pain from my voice, though.

"I never told you how sorry I am for doing that," Edward said quietly, registering how I felt about what he had done. I stared at him, completely stunned. I regained my senses quickly.

"Well, hint for the future, don't cheat on a girlfriend, it saves all the hurt and humiliation," I said. He looked at me as if I was someone who could read minds, he looked taken aback.

"I know," Edward said, and his permanently cold hand was suddenly on mine, "which is why I finished with Alice."

My hand was suddenly out of his grip.

"What?"

"Yup," he said, emphasising the 'p', "I don't know why I actually cheated on you with her. I guess you could say I'm messed up."

My head was spinning, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope." He emphasised the 'p' again.

I don't remember much after, since I completely blacked out.

*

"Bella?"

This person was interrupting my dreamless sleep. It was sad, really, I wasn't willing to escape from this blackness.

"Bella, please wake up!"

I groaned.

"Mom, how many times do I have to tell you, don't wake me up!"

"What are you talking about, Bella?" the voice persisted. I cracked an eye open. Glittering blue eyes were staring at me. That was odd, Mom had brown eyes.

"She's awake," the blue eyes disappeared. I snapped both of my eyes open. I was staring at a white ceiling, a contrast to my pillow. I sat up and realised where I was. The nurse's office. What had happened?

"_Yup. I don't know why I actually cheated on you with her."_

"_You've got to be kidding me."_

"_Nope." _

I remembered. I looked around and saw Jasper talking to the school nurse outside the room and Edward sitting in a chair near the door, looking effortlessly elegant. His arm was propped against the arm of the chair, and he rested his chin on his closed fist. His hair wasn't its usual styled manner, but it was extremely messy, as if he had spent a long time running his fingers through his hair. His other hand was tapping onto his lap, as if he was practising playing the piano without the keys. He was also looking out of the window near the door. _Had Edward just implied that he still had feelings for me?_ His gaze moved from whatever was outside to me.

"Oh, so you're awake," he said simply.

"Didn't Jasper just say?" I asked, rubbing the tiredness from my eyes.

"Jasper has been saying that you've awoken every time you speak in your sleep, or flutter your eyelashes, but I know it is typical Bella slumber," Edward said nonchalantly. The manner he had said _I know_ had sent shivers down my spine. How did he know this?

"Alice told me," he said, as if answering my question. I blushed, and started inspecting my nails, for something to do rather than look to him, because it was getting quite tedious, letting myself fall into that hole again.

"Why are you here?" I asked pathetically. He rose from his chair, like a god or something, and walked over to me, over-exaggerating his perfect steps and his grace.

"I brought you here," Edward said truthfully. He raised a hand and placed it on mine and stared from an angle into mine. I felt my heart tremor slightly. This was Edward's final move in winning a girl's heart. I knew from experience that he would finish off by smiling. Not a second had passed after I had thought this did he smile, that perfect crooked smile. It made me almost want to grab his face and just press my lips against his, for one last time, even if it meant breaking every promise I had made to Jasper. I kicked myself subconsciously, _this jerk cheated on you, remember?_  
"Of course, Jasper thought I was dumping your dead body and came speeding out of Spanish or whatever lesson he was having and shouted bloody murder," he said through his flawless smile. I scoffed. Of course, Edward would have had that smoothed out in a millisecond, and Jasper being the perfect gentlemen he was would have believed Edward and stayed by my side until I had woken up. Which he had. Edward had most likely stayed to skive Biology, or continue with the pathetic topic that had made me faint in the first place.

"Well it was partially your fault," I muttered, still staring at him like the complete idiot I was.

"Oh, how so?" he asked, bemusement colouring his face. He was a master at playing mind games. He knew that by asking me I would have to confront the situation rather than run away or faint, although, fainting hadn't been my ideal method of putting off the situation.

"Well, actually, I was already feeling sick so it wasn't really you," I mumbled, my words almost coherent. He laughed at my remark. This is the reason why I felt so sick, how he could laugh so at ease even though he had just broken up with his girlfriend. It made me feel sorry for Alice, although I had never really forgiven her for backstabbing me, and every other girl he had gone through as if they were tissues. I'm so glad that for me, I had support and learned to love again despite Edward's cruel way of telling me he was dissatisfied with our relationship. His cheery face fell serious once more as he tried to persuade me into telling him what was wrong.

"Bella, just tell me."

"No," I replied immediately and stubbornly.

"Bella..."

I shook my head.

"Bella..." he said, for a third time. I knew he was getting on the end of his tether because I had already denied him information twice.

"Okay Edward," I said angrily because I was getting annoyed as well as he was, "I probably fainted because I wanted to put off a situation that makes me sick, you and your ability to go through girls as if they are bowling balls, you throw them away until the next one comes along. It's wrong, it's completely vile."

"Am I supposed to understand that?" Edward asked dangerously, his eyes flashing with self-hatred.

"Duh," I said simply. Jasper was still talking to the school nurse, probably charming her or just learning something new, as he does. I was glad that he wasn't in earshot of what Edward and I were discussing, because he would hear his best friend hitting on his girlfriend.

"Your metaphors are twisted," he said, looking back at the door to see if Jasper was coming. I noticed him check.

"Your methods are twisted," I answered with pure venom in my voice, "I'm your best friend's girlfriend, or your ex-girlfriend whose heart you brutally broke, you have no right telling me things I don't want to know, especially half an hour or whatever after you've broken up with _your_ girlfriend, who is also my best friend. You also have no right in telling me this, because I know that you'll move on to another girl in about a week."

"Bella, I've never gone back to the same girl twice, I may have gone through many girlfriends in the past few years, I have never felt so serious about one girl, _you_," he said as serious as he felt. I knew he was serious, but I didn't care. I wouldn't really care what Edward said to me anymore. I looked away from the intensity of his eyes and looked somewhere else, except he put his hands on my face, forcing me to look at him.

"I-I don't under-s-stand," I stammered, not letting my brain comprehend what Edward was saying to me.

"You do," he said sadly, "You just don't want to." I know I didn't want to. I didn't want to put myself in the same position I had been in before Jasper had stepped into my life. Edward had made me feel so _used_ and Jasper had changed that for me. He was trying to make me make a wrong decision, when the worst decision I ever made in my life was loving him.

"Edward, _you_ cheated on _me_, it wasn't the other way around, _you_ were the one that broke _us_ apart," I reminded him. I wanted to tell him straight.

"And I've realised the error of my ways," he told me, countering my statement.

"That's not enough," I whispered to him, holding the gaze between us.

"I love you," he whispered back. I shook my head.

"Those are just words," I stated. He stared at me, accusingly, and he lets his mouth fall open, unable to articulate anything that would make me almost fall in love with him. Had he not walked out of my life so maliciously and left a Jasper-sized hole, I probably would have gone back to him, I wouldn't care of the stigma it would have caused. Edward closed his mouth, still unable to conjure anything that would push me over the edge of being on love with Jasper back to him. I decided to take the first step.

"Edward, forget it, I'm in love with Jasper," I hissed to him. I sighed and ripped my head out of his cold grip.

Edward looked defeated as he smiled. The smile did not reach his eyes. His eyes were sombre. He could have said something, but he didn't, I knew that all he was saying were empty words. Edward had never meant what he said. He never would and possibly never will.

"Fine," he said, "But remember: I'll love you when he doesn't. I'll wait for you to love me." He turned around to walk out the door. His hands went immediately to his bronze hair, running through it like it was a lifeline.

I waited for a second before saying to his leaving back, making sure I had the last word in this discussion,

"Even when he doesn't, I'll always love him."

---

_I can't believe its like 5 days until Christmas, I am sure that my 16__th__ birthday was yesterday, which is odd because my birthday is like in October. And the weather is crazy, one minute it's snowing and the next it's raining. I hate both. It's too cold. Although, I can't wait until Boxing Day, because I'm going to Switzerland! Yay. On the topic of Switzerland, why would anyone be Team Switzerland when Jacob is just epic? _

_Anyway, I'm going to try and update before Christmas – but if I don't, to all my reviewers and readers, Happy Christmas! _

_Love Bexx. _


	10. You're the one who agreed to it

_Disclaimer to Stephenie Meyer. _

_And this chapter is dedicated for all those who have followed Almost Lover so far and review and make me happy. _

* * *

"Bel-_la _," Alice said, emphasising the last syllable.

"Al-_ice_," I copied her. She put her hands on her hips and frowned at me.

"Bella, you promised you'd go to prom, and you're going to stick to it," Alice said before adding sadly, "Of course, if it were me, I'd be getting ready quicker than it takes for you to complain about prom."

Bella's heart sank. Of course not that Edward and Alice were no longer an item it would be hard for her to go to prom with Edward and act civil. He had broken her heart, and little did she know it was all because of me. Alice was only helping me because it would seem that she would live the night through me. I hadn't really prepared anything for prom was going and I was going to be wearing Alice's dress, and even though Alice was shorter and much skinnier than me, the dress fit perfectly.

"I hate dresses that reach the floor, they make me trip up," I managed to say when she put it on. I was just looking for an excuse to dislike the dress I had on. It was almost Grecian goddess-like, and would have looked better on Alice. Despite this, it didn't look bad on me. I could see the pain in Alice's eyes as she would never wear the dress to prom.

"Alice, you can go to prom you know," I coaxed. If she did, she could have this dress and I would have to find a last minute dress, possibly my mothers' prom dress which was going to be humiliating.

"People who don't have dates to prom are sad," Alice muttered under her breath.

"That is bull, you don't have to skip prom because of a jerk," I snapped at her, trying to break her out of her pre-closure shell.

"Well, I deserved it, I shouldn't have dumped a perfectly good person," Alice said sadly.

"Well, maybe it was supposed to happen, Alice," I said optimistically, "I mean, had you not gotten with Edward, I would have never had discovered Jasper, who I think is _the one_."

"The one?" Alice perked up immediately, "Bella, are you sure?"

"More sure of that than I want to go to prom," I muttered darkly. Alice chucked.

"You're the one who agreed to it," Alice said, messing with my hair. It was already preened to perfection. There wasn't much that Alice could do to it. There was a soft knock at the door and Rosalie walked into the room. My jaw dropped. She must have noticed because she said,

"Likewise."

Rosalie was probably going to be voted prom queen, with the way she was dressed today. She was dressed in a dress that should be really worn on holiday but it worked for her. Her hair was flowing down her shoulders, and the diamond encrusted straps went over her shoulders. The dress itself cut out in a circle at her cleavage, and cut out again at her waist, and was a myriad of warm colours, especially a dark pink. It also flowed down to the floor-length. It was gorgeous.

I could say I looked too bad myself. Alice's dress was really pretty. It was asymmetrical, off the shoulder and floor-length, (which Alice later explained showed that I could wear flat pumps instead of heels and no one would really notice). She also gave me a hair band was very Blair-Waldorf-esque*. I was good to go.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to prom?" I asked Alice gently, she shook her head in sadness. Rosalie took my hand and smiled weakly.

"I feel so bad," I said as soon as Alice was out of earshot.

"Emmett always said that Edward was bad news," Rosalie confided, "I told him it was big brother paranoia but it turns around he was right."

"Edward is a jerk," I said lowly and Rosalie nodded in agreement.

*

"I can't believe I'm at prom," I said darkly as I stepped into the gymnasium-turned-dance hall. Jasper chuckled in my ear.

"Why is that?"

"It makes me feel like a hypocrite," I said whilst rolling my eyes. Jasper rolled his eyes in return. I was sorely tempted to roll my eyes again, but my gaze was fixated on Edward, who was sitting on his own at the far side of the hall. From the corner of my eye I saw Emmett clench but Rosalie was holding onto his hand, and led him to the dancefloor. Jasper followed my gaze and tutted.

"What comes around goes around, right?" Jasper whispered into my ear.

"Karma's a bitch," I replied as he tried to distract me by leading me to the dancefloor. I saw Edward's face harden as Jaspers hand crept around my waist.

*

I was actually having fun. The slow songs were easy, all Jasper and I did was sway and hold each other. Occasionally I put my head on his chest. There were the rare times where we span a bit and then there was the single trip. Well, that's what it was to Jasper and me, but to everyone else it was a romantic gesture. After spinning once, I had felt confident and decided that I wanted to do it again. Knowing me, I should have just threw _that_ idea out of the window because Jasper had no idea what I was going to do, so when I span, I slid on my damned floor-length dress and fell back. Jasper, who had quick reflexes, grabbed me. To everyone, what was actually Jasper saving me from falling onto the floor, it seemed like he had just dipped me in a romantic manner. Suddenly I was aware everyone was staring at us two. Jasper looked at me, not out of romance, but out of worry. Boys, they were always oblivious.

"You can pull me up now," I said through my teeth. Jasper got the message.

"Are you okay?" he asked, still oblivious.

"Yes," I said smiling, "now kiss me."

"What?" he asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"I'll explain later."

He pulled me into a very, Jasper-y, passionate kiss. And I loved it. And so did the others around us, and the girls around us in particular were very envious. I felt embarrassed and never span again without Jasper leading me into it.

The fast dances were harder. They required a lot of spinning, so I opted out of them. Then there were the fad dances (which I managed to teach fad-dance virgins Jasper and Emmett) and then of course, the club songs that made us gather in the centre and danced by jumping up and down or retro-80s style. Of course, after a few songs, this died down and slow and fast songs came back on.

*

After our possible hundredth dance, Jasper was tired. I had tired after the 3rd dance, but to go along with Jasper I had danced and danced.

"I'm going to get us some drinks," Jasper said. I nodded. I hadn't noticed how dry my throat was. No sooner had Jasper disappeared into the crowd did a voice whisper down my ear.

"Can I have this dance?"

I turned and I saw Edward.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I said, the music to the previous song had ended a long time ago, and I was doubtful if another song came on. Unfortunately a song did. _Can I have this dance?_ _Who watches High School Musical anyway?_

"Just take my hand," Edward said velvety as if he was James Bond, super spy extraordinaire. I took it. I would have to tell him, for the last time, that I was not into him. I had moved on.

"This ship has sailed!" I exclaimed. I blushed as I realised I had shouted out my thoughts. Edward didn't even blink in shock. Other couples seemed to look at me as if I was crazy. Maybe I was. I tried to wrench myself out of Edward's grip but he was far too strong. He was looking at me in a malevolent way. It was chilling me to the bone.

"Bella, I have no idea what you're talking about," he said.

"You do," I said, "You just don't want to."

"I said that," he said quickly.

"Verbatim."

"Of course, I wouldn't really expect anything less."

He spun me around expertly and when he had finished dipping me I glared at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked shrewdly.

"Your boyfriend is coming," Edward said, looking over my shoulder. I saw Jasper staring at us, holding two cups full of red punch. Jasper walked up to us, his eyes narrowed at Edward.

"What do we have here?" he asked.

"We're dancing," I supplied for Edward, who was probably thinking of something to break Jasper and I up.

"She owes me at least one dance," Edward said, admitting defeat.

"She doesn't owe you anything," Jasper said, thrusting one of the paper cups onto Edward's chest. Red stained his white shirt. Jasper stood close to Edward.

"Remember what you did to her?" Jasper reminded directly into Edward's ear, "you have no right to ask her anything."

No longer had the words been said did the paper cups go flying. Red punch splashed everywhere, even on expensive white dresses. Jasper and Edward were in a testosterone-fuelled fight. It was as if this was the animal kingdom and they were fighting for something. I winced as I remembered it was me.

"Break it up!" Emmett said, pushing through the crowd. Rosalie was reluctantly being pulled by Emmett. Emmett grabbed Jasper by the collar and pulled him up. I grabbed Jasper's hand.

"He's not worth it," I said, forcing Jasper to look at me. His eyes were icy, the blue now able to freeze anyone that dared look at them. Rosalie and I forced Jasper to walk away, go home, and calm down.

"Oh, and this is for breaking my sister's heart!" a loud voice boomed. A loud crack ensued and blood splattered onto the floor.

That's when hell _really_ broke loose.

* * *

_As you may recognise the song if you've read my other fanfiction – The Perfect Girl. I have a strange obsession with using that song for prom scenes but I think this is the last time I'll actually use that song._

_As for the *, for those who don't know who Blair Waldorf is, she's from Gossip Girl and is rather famed for her headbands. _

_Anyway, ciao, I have to go and get ready and pack for Geneva!_


	11. Graduation Blues

_Disclaimer to Stephenie Meyer._

* * *

I doubted that after the prom incident that Emmett, Jasper or Edward would be allowed to attend graduation, I was wrong. After Emmett had punched Edward in the face, the crowd had gone wild. Jasper struggled to join in, and Rosalie went to restrain Emmett. Whilst his actions had meant that he did justice for his 10-month younger sister, it had meant that Edward had had to go to hospital and have his nose plastered up for his yearbook picture. Emmett was also suspended from other end-of-year activities and was given detention until he graduated. Rosalie had also imposed a serious silent mode whenever Emmett spoke to her, and they were on the brink of separating. Of course, that was if Rosalie didn't give in. She had told Alice and me that she was going to give in after graduation, if he was on his best behaviour. And he was.

Jasper was also given detention, mainly for technically starting the fight, but he wasn't suspended. I wasn't as harsh as Rosalie, but he knew I was just as disappointed as Rosalie was. Alice, being Alice, was just glad she hadn't witnessed the carnage.

One exact week after prom, came graduation. I knew that we all were going to graduate, but I didn't know it was going to come so soon. I remembered when it was just the beginning of senior year, and jeez, what had changed since then. I guess, just like the clouds are lifted from the skies in the summer, the clouds from our eyes were also lifted to the type of person Edward was. Yet, Emmett insists that he knew it all along. Of course, we know Emmett's talking bull.

"Why do we have to rehearse for this?" I complained. Jasper smirked. In the line, he was behind me as we were all going in alphabetical order and apparently after 'Swan' came 'Whitlock'.

"Because, certain people may trip up, and pull the stage with them," he whispered back.

"Very funny," I replied dryly. It wasn't true that I couldn't keep straight, I could manage if I was wearing a good pair of sturdy sneakers, which was the case now.

"Bella Swan," the woman called and as rehearsed I walked up the steps, collected my fake diploma, smiled at some cameras and walked off stage. Perfect.

Aside from one small defect.

Have you ever seen that movie, where that girl trips and pulls the curtain behind the stage? Yeah, something like that happened to me. Except, seeing as Forks stuff will always be vintage stuff, the curtains ripped from the ceiling and pulled some of the structure holding it up. This caused the whole building to be evacuated, and for me to be collecting my diploma with Jasper, whose job was to make sure I didn't fall and recreate this catastrophe.

That was if Jasper lived to tell the tale. A full 15 minutes after the incident he was still laughing, tears trickling down his eyes, his hand clamped over his perfect abs. His laughter was infectious so everyone was laughing along with him, making the situation less hilarious than it was. I glared at him to try and make in recoil but instead that would just set him off even more. I rolled my eyes and stormed out of the gymnasium, hoping for him to follow me, apologise and quit laughing.

Which he did, except he didn't stop laughing.

*

"Oh Bella," Renee said as she straightened out my graduation robes for the twentieth time in the gym.

"Oh _Mom_," I said, bored of her repetition. Others were assembling for graduation already and I was still standing here, being tended to by my mother. She looked me up and down, assessing me before letting me go.

"Don't trip now honey!" she semi-shouted as I was power walked my way to where all the other graduates were sitting and I heard a small chuckle of assent. God, it was amazing how news travelled fast in this small town. Or it was fast how Jasper could update my mother with my trip-ups when it was 4 hours since the incident and he hadn't the time to directly speak to her. Unless, Renee figured out how to use the text function on the keyboard, which _would_ be a graduation present.

I took my seat next to Jasper and we listen to our valedictorian speak about the importance of success. Maybe if the speech wasn't spoken in three different rhythms it may have sunk into me. Eric was varying from speed-reciting, to slow making-a-point to politician mode. To be honest, I was moreorless ready to fall asleep by the time Eric was reaching a point about how success is the road to a better life. I felt a jolt as something vibrated in my pocket. I took my phone out stealthily so no one would see and I saw that I had a text.

_Is this guy for real? – A_

_Possibly, or just practising his presidency speech – B_

_I can't wait to get out of this yellow robe, it's almost heinous that I have to wear it – A_

I chuckled and looked over by Alice who was sitting in front of Emmett. Emmett was so large he was almost blocking my view of Alice and she was looking at me, motioning with her eyes to get me to reply. I poised my fingers over the buttons, hiding the screen under my robe cuff.

_Me too. I can't believe I have to get my diploma with Jasper, so embarrassing that I can't be trusted to walk a stage by myself – B_

_See it as something romantic, how many other couples can honestly say that they got their high-school diploma with their boyfriend? – A_

Alice had a point. I looked up at her and she stared from me to Rosalie and suddenly my phone buzzed with a text from Rosalie. Somehow Rosalie had joined our conversation, just as Eric had finished his speech.

_Thank God, he's finished – R_

_I know, right? – A _

_Yay, high school ends NOW! – B_

_And after-party, my house! – R_

_No Edward? – B_

_Of course, I don't allow pigs into my house – R_

_LOL – A_

_Shut up guys, they're actually handling the rolls of paper saying we got through high school, see you all later xoxo – R_

_U 2 – A_

_Hope I don't trip! – B_

_PS, LOL again – A_

I shoved my phone into my pocket as the first row of sitting students were queuing up for their diplomas. I don't know if it was nerves, but my hand reached out to Jaspers and squeezed it. I was so afraid that I would mess up again.

"Edward Cullen."

Prince not-so Charming walked up to the stage, his nose had been demoted from plaster cast to just large Band Aids, and I noticed he was limping as well. Wow. Emmett had done a pretty nasty job, no wonder he got detention. My heart felt a pang of guilt as I saw the pain in his eyes. On the outside it may seem like I wanted him to deserve it, but on the inside, who would wish the immeasurable pain of graduating with a Band-Aid covering your face? Who would want to inflict something so embarrassing, that it would be catalogued for years to come? You know why? Because even Edward Cullen, asshole as he may be, did not deserve to be photographed with a broken nose. Not even Eric Newton did, and he should be accused of boring to death.

"Rosalie Hale."

Rosalie was the first one out of our 'gang' to collect her diploma and I could see her father in the distance cheering for her. We all did and she just looked radiant on the stage. She smiled perfectly and posed in a manner that would win her many spaces in the yearbook. Oh yes indeed. Not long after Alice and Emmett graduated, separately, and they seemed to do it as if they had been graduating schools across the Northern hemisphere for their entire lives. I could see my second-father, Alice's dad, tearing up in the third row as he clapped for his son. Yes, even Emmett's _father_ had trouble realising his son had graduated, even with all the things Emmett got up to during school. Only Emmett could put the Principal's coat on top of the flagpost, or even change the flag to something of his personal preference.

Suddenly, our row had to stand. It was our turn. Jessica Stanley who was standing in front of me was whispering a mantra that she believed would help her look better than she already did. It didn't work. She just looked as if she was holding something in, as she collected her diploma, because she was remembering so hard. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights as a flash went of meaning her picture was taken. She stumbled off stage, almost analysing everything she did and how she could have corrected it.

"Bella Swan and Jasper Whitlock."

I could feel Jasper's arm on my back the entire time I was walking up the stage. I could hear my mother scream my name and I blushed. The harsh glare of the fluorescent lighting was making my cheeks heat up more. We both collected our scrolls and aimed grins at the camera which was on stage, ready to take our picture. As we walked off stage, I saw Jasper grinning in a certain direction and I followed his gaze. Jasper was staring at a man, probably his dad.

Jasper was probably more like his mother. His dad was tall and had brown hair. I couldn't tell what colours his eyes were from a distance, but they could be brown. I stared harder at the man, and something in my brain registered. It was as if a light bulb had just lit above my head as my eyes widened.

"Dad?" I whispered.

"What?" Jasper asked beside me, he was looking in the direction I was looking in and stared at me.

"Whoa, you're getting way ahead of yourself," he said slowly, "I-I mean, we just g-graduated-d, yo-u-u can't expect us to g-ge-t-t married, right? You don't want _my_ dad to be your dad yet do you?"

I ignored him. Handing out the diplomas had finished, all the graduates were free to go to their congratulating families, and that meant no restraint. I ran forwards, pushing past people to get to my destination. My graduation cap slipped off my head, so it didn't really matter if I threw the damned thing into the air or not. At that point, I only had one goal in mind.

"Dad!" I called out. The man had turned around to collect his blazer off the back of his chair. Jasper was right behind me.

"Bella! What are you doing?" Jasper shouted behind me.

The man seemed to stiffen as he heard my name, he continued to look busy with his coat. No, this couldn't be, it couldn't be, cannot in a million years be. I had to make sure that he wasn't, to put my aching heart at rest.

"Dad?" I called out weakly. Jasper had caught up and took my arm and tried to lead me to Renee.

"Bella, I want you to stop this!" Jasper hissed at me, "People are looking."

I didn't care what other people thought of me right now, they weren't in my situation. They probably will never be in my situation. They didn't understand that the heartache I had now was because of a hole, that had never healed, that had been there since I was a baby was possibly because of this man, and I expected Jasper of all people to understand how I felt. If his mother wasn't dead, he would want to find her right? I surged forwards, resisting Jasper's pulls back and I reached him.

"_Mommy, who is that?"_

"_That's your daddy."_

"_Where's daddy?"_

"_Daddy's with your brother, playing in the stars."_

"_But the stars are so far away! Why can't we play with the stars as well?"_

"_Bella, just be blessed you're not playing with the stars."_

The man from that picture, that first picture I had stolen from my mother, the first time my memory cells registered what my father's appearance shot me like a flashback. It was him, it was definitely him.

"Dad?"

He turned around and his brows knitted, not unlike mine when I got confused.

"Sorry, I thought you were Jasper for a second, you must be Bella," he said nonchalantly. How could a man be so cold? Didn't he know, didn't he see my eyes in his? Jasper was no longer behind me but I could see him behind Renee. My glance looked down to his ring finger. He still wore his ring. Why did our parents still wear the rings that bonded them together and yet come up with an elaborate story to break apart?

I saw Renee scream, her eyes were filled up with tears. The man, who I assumed was my father, let his jaw drop. Oh no, please no. My heart pounded as if my life depended on it. Please, just no. Never. Not in a million years.

"Oh honey," my mother whispered.

"No," I said, barely coherent, "not Jasper, just anyone but Jasper."

"Bella, I'm so sorry," she whispered. The man behind me coughed.

"If it's any consolation, Jasper, Congratulations," he said, his hand dipped into his blazer pocket and pulled out a golden chain. Jasper had moved forwards in the commotion. I could see in the corner of my eye that people were looking. Let them look. I gasped as I recognised the unique locket that had fallen on Jasper's palm. My hand went under my robes and pulled out the same locket that was around my neck. I move forwards. The tension in the room went up by a tenfold. Jasper had tears in his eyes. I did. Renee did. My father did. This wasn't the family reunion I wanted. Damn it. Please don't fit.

Jasper lifted the chain, and connected the two lockets together. Click. Like a jigsaw puzzle. Jasper dropped it as if it was hot iron , but I held on, waiting for the final piece of evidence. I turned it over.

And there it was. Two twins. Two identical outfits. This was it. We were twins.

"Oh, MY GOD!"

This was too much. I had to run out of the gymnasium, anywhere out of this stuffy atmosphere.

_I'm right here, get in the Porsche, its outside – A_

* * *

_Twisty-turny-almost-knowable, right?_

_Anyway, sorry for the slow update, I mean, with Switzerland and then flight delay, then food poisoning, I really didn't have time. But a New Year, and a new Chapter. _

_Drop a review? _

_Btw, I'm sad to say that after doing Almost Lover for such a long time, in 2 chapters. It's going to be over. Yup. {;_


	12. I'd do anything for you

_Disclaimer to Stephenie Meyer._

_NB: The last part is in the 3__rd__ person, by the way. _

* * *

"How is it possible?" said Alice as soon as I slid into her car. She threw her car into acceleration.

"I have ran that question in my mind and I've came up with so many hypotheses, all of them ending up that I realise that it isn't true," I replied numbly. It couldn't be true. I knew I was reacting irrationally against the evidence. Yet, how was someone supposed to react that their first real love and current brother was in fact their long lost twin brother? I couldn't help but shudder. What was it between Jasper and I? Sibling love? I was repulsed by myself. I couldn't believe that I had fallen so deeply in love with someone who turned out to be my dead twin. No, no, it couldn't be true. It wasn't. It was simply just a misunderstanding. Jasper had to be adopted. Or maybe I was adopted. Or it was just fake. It was just a plan. It was not real. I tried to tell Alice this but she had a better argument.

"But look, Bella, look at the necklace! You said so yourself that when they are together they make a picture and that only your twin had that other necklace! Sure, Jasper didn't, but Mr. Whitlock had that necklace!"

...Or maybe that Mr. Whitlock had gotten that chain from my mother, who had kept it for herself and they were all waiting at where Alice was taking me to shout, "You've been Punk'd!" I looked down at the alien object, dangling from my neck. The necklace around my neck was holding the other necklace up, it was still connected to each other. My hand reached out for it, for the first time. The perfect oval. Wow. I had never envisioned ever having the full oval before. My hands traced over Jasper's name. It was odd, feeling the same texture but different grooves in the smooth metal. I turned it over. I saw my familiar baby picture, but now it was whole. Jasper was sat next to me, wearing the exact clothes. I pulled it apart, ripping away the lies. It was a lie. Jasper was a lie, he had never been my best friend, he had always been my older brother. Renee had lied to me my whole life. Hot tears were coming, thick and fast. My whole life had been a lie.

"I can't believe this," I said in between sobs, "I can't believe J-Jaspers my b-brother, I can't believe my d-dad had been-n around al-ll-l this time and never came for m-me, and then-n I see him-m-m during graduation."

"Have you never met Jasper's dad?" asked Alice as she made a rough turn. I could tell she was trying hard not to act surprised or disgusted. I tried to answer, but the seatbelt was restraining me from even taking a breath. When it allowed me to take several breaths, I was able to answer.

"Jasper, always said he was, busy," I said through heavy gulps of air, "I mean, he spent most of his time not even in the house, and when Jasper asked he always seemed to be on a business trip."

Damn, why didn't I find that odd?

"Jasper's dad is the chief of police," Alice said incredulously. She braked hard as the traffic lights went red. Pain erupted on my left shoulder. It seemed as if she could break every speeding rule, but she couldn't pass a red light. I rubbed the shoulder in which the seatbelt dug into. That would be very sore tomorrow, I knew from experience during those days Edward drove me to school. Damn Alice and her need for speed.

"In Port Angeles?"

"In _Forks_."

"I don't understand," I said slowly.

"It's possible that Mr. Whitlock wanted to avoid meeting you," Alice said, her face full of determination as the light turned green again. What? Why would my dad not want to meet me? In case Bella Swan, Jasper's girlfriend was in fact Bella Swan, the daughter he ditched 18 years ago? Maybe if this had been resolved earlier, my heart wouldn't feel as if it was being eaten out by two giant rats, one called Renee and one called Mr. Whitlock. I was lurched back as the needle on the speedometer surpassed 100.

"Where are we going?" I asked. I was desperate to change the subject as she drove faster and faster. I didn't want to know why my apparent father thought it was acceptable to let his son date his daughter if he knew.

"To my house, everyone is going there," Alice said sadly. I could tell my emotions were reflecting on Alice. I was sad. I surpassed sad. My stomach was dropping and my heart was breaking. It felt as if breathing was becoming a difficulty. My phone buzzed and I grabbed it. I had a text. From Jasper. There were several of them, actually.

_I'm sorry but it's true – J_

Why are you sorry, Jasper? You didn't know. It was only time when the truth was going to come out.

_They said it was for us. They say it was because Renee couldn't stand Forks, but Charlie had to stay for his parents. Renee stayed with her parents on the other side of town, so we never met until elementary school. When we were in fourth grade she had saved enough money to leave Forks. Then she decided she wanted to get back with Charlie. They lost contact. – J_

I supposed Charlie was Mr. Whitlock. No wonder my mother never talked about that twin or my father much, because their death had been a complete lie. They hadn't died. Their inability to stand each other had caused repercussions in the future. Karma was a bitch. We were the scapegoats of their failed relationship. In my head, I thought it through, many times. If Renee couldn't stand Forks, why did she stay here until _fourth grade_ hiding from my father, and then spend a year away before deciding she wanted to be back with my father. Why did she have to make life so difficult, or even worse, why did she only think of herself?

_They say they're sorry we had to find out this way, but they're going to get back together – J_

Why did they have to only think of themselves? Why couldn't they see that what they did had broken two people apart? One arrow of freaking love had shot two people in the heart and killed their hearts before joining their two together. Yet, what could Jasper and I do? We couldn't disagree to our parents reuniting, in normal society it was what children from a broken marriage wanted. As much as I wanted my mother to be happy, I didn't want her and Charlie to recognise that they had two children, because that's what Jasper and I were, their children. We were brother and sister, even worse, twins, who had made the mistake our parents, had made and fallen in love.

_Bella, is it wrong for me to still be in love with you? – J_

My finger poised over the delete button. _Jasper you shouldn't be thinking this kind of thing, I'm your twin sister_. I was ready to delete that message, but my heart wasn't in it. If I wasn't still in love with Jasper right now, I wouldn't be feeling the way I felt. Numb with shock. As if I stopped doing what I was doing, which was loving Jasper, everything would collapse into one big hole. My heart seemed to flutter when my every thought trailed to him. It was wrong, wrong, wrong. Why couldn't I delete that message as easily as I'd deleted others?

_Bella, talk to me. – J_

Oh, Jasper. I wish I could.

_I'm at Alice's house. We need to talk – J._

Tears fell down my face. I hadn't noticed that we had stopped for a while. I hadn't noticed Alice had gotten out of the car and was making her way to Jasper. I looked out of the car, and sure, he was there. She pointed at the car. I hastily wiped away at the tears. How had Jasper gotten here quicker than fast-and-furious Alice? I looked at the driveway. The Harley, _of course_. Jasper nodded at Alice and gave her a smile. I could just make out the words, _thanks_. Alice just looked sadly at us. She knew as clear as I did that this wasn't going to end in a good way, or a bad way. Jasper climbed into the car and before the car had even started up, he threw it in reverse, reversing quickly but conscientiously out of the driveway.

"Bella, I swear I didn't know," said Jasper. I looked at him; his blue eyes were brimming with emotion. I could tell that my boring brown eyes were just wet. I knew it. I knew it. Why else would he have to hide his eye colour?

"We need to work this out," he continued through tight lips.

"What do we need to work out; it's not going to happen!" I said loudly, "its taboo that we were even in love with each other!"

"In traditional Balinese culture, twins of different sex are forced to marry to each other because it's believed that twins of the opposite sex had sex in the uterus," Jasper told me.

"In traditional North American culture, twins of different sex are punishable by law if they have sex with each other and know that they're twins," I shot back.

"This is stupid, I _don't _look anything like you or Charlie or Renee," Jasper spat as he stopped at a quiet park.

"Maybe you were adopted," I said slowly, twisting my fingers. Yet I knew, for a fact that my grandmother had blue eyes, and who knew who else in my family had the blonde gene?

"Then, I wouldn't feel bad about doing this," he said, and he slowly reached for my face and pressed his lips against mine. I couldn't help but feel shocked and mainly disgusted with myself because my heart was enjoying it so much. I pulled away.

"No, Jasper," I said against his cheek.

"What does your heart say?" he whispered into my face.

"It says, it says," I trembled to search for the right words that my heart was saying to me. I couldn't think of an adequate lie. I simply undid my seatbelt and tried to get out of the car as quickly as I could. I ran.

Sometimes I had wondered that if Cinderella really loved the Prince, why did she run away? Why didn't she let him know who she really was? Now, in this single moment I knew. Cinderella probably didn't want her Prince to see the lie. I was the lie, Jasper's lie. Jasper was my lie. We were trapped, forever, regardless in the lies our parents had made. Now, the clock was ticking, and the spell was about to break. The truth was going to lie around us, in tatters because of the devastation we had made.

"Bella, wait."

In true Cinderella fashion, the Prince was following. It only spurred me to run even faster.

Except, where Cinderella lost a glass slipper and was still able to run, I was not. I fell flat on my face, and by the time I had stood up, Jasper had caught up. He pinned me to a tree. He stared at me with great reverence. I couldn't stare back at him.

"Bella, if you can honestly tell me that your heart is telling you to push me away, tell me now," he said, his voice was rugged from the running.

"Please, Jasper, no."

"Bella, just _tell me_."

I looked up at him.

"Jasper, I-"

"I see, that's all I needed to hear, thanks," he said bitterly, before setting me feel from his grip. He turned around and walked away from me, back to where the car was. I fell back onto the tree. I looked up in the sky.

_What does your heart say? If you can honestly tell me your heart is telling you to push me away, tell me now. _Was my heart telling me to throw away the best part of my life? Jasper was my best friend; he had always been my best friend. My eyes widened as I realised that's what he was thinking. Jasper only saw me has his lover, his best friend, he had never seen me as a sister. That's why he was feeling the way he did now. How did Jasper make me feel?

Loved. Appreciated. Happy. Jasper was the only one that could stop me crying, Jasper wrote me a song. Damn it, why had I just realised that Jasper had always been in love with me, yet he went out with Alice, because _I _had told him she suited him. He had protected me from Edward. He had _always _been there for me. He was always there, regardless of whether I was in Phoenix or Forks. He didn't care if I was popular or not. He was determined. We were meant to fall in love. I looked up into the sky again. _If it is destiny, show me a sign._ Then, as quick as it appeared, clouds rolled over to reveal a brilliant shining moon. It was basking the clearing I was in with its light. I knew. I had to follow what my heart was saying.

"Jasper Whitlock, if you love me, stay where you are!" I shouted out loud. I ran forwards. He was out of my sight, but I retraced my footsteps to back where the car was. As if he had been hit by a spell, he was as still as a statue. I raced forwards, determined to get to him, before his mind thought of hating me. I stopped just before I reached him and I hugged him from behind. He grew even more statue-like underneath my grip.

"Let's go to Rosalie's party," he said, all emotion wiped from his voice.

"Not until I get to say what I feel."

I think I imagined him tensing underneath my arms.

"I feel as if my life is going to implode, because of this, I'm afraid that things will end badly."

"I see."

"I'm afraid to tell you how I feel, because if it's out there, there's no changing it, and it's simply wrong, for me to tell you how I feel would be socially taboo."

"So why are we having his conversation?" Jasper's voice came out harsh.

"Because I don't want to _run_ away anymore, and I don't want you to run away before I tell you what my heart is telling me."

There was a pause. Jasper was waiting for my response.

"My heart is telling me that I have never met someone, like you, who has always been there for me, who has always loved me and who will continue doing that despite _circumstances_."

"That's more or less describing what I'd go through just to be with you," he replied.

"That's why I love you," I answered back, "I love you so much, and that I'm willing to go through whatever criticism just to be with you."

My arms fell limp.

"That's all I wanted to say," I said, moving away from him and towards the car. After all, we have to go to a party.

"Bella Swan, you cannot expect me not to react after what you've just told me."

I turned around and he's there, in front of my face, his eyes swelling with emotion. He grabbed my face.

"Bella, I love you too."

"Good thing, because I was afraid for a second that you didn't."

He chuckled under his breath before kissing me, not daring deepening it in case I pushed him away. I moved away from him, and I could see hurt registering in his eyes. I grabbed his hand and walked over to the car. I opened the door to the backseats. I smiled wickedly.

There is something about forbidden things that make you strangely more romantic.

*

"Hey guys," a small voice said as Jasper and I burst through the door of Rosalie's party. The party dulled down with our entrance, but it quickly resumed with Rosalie's encouragement. I could see Alice in the corner of my eye and she was smiling. She pointed at her phone and I checked for my messages. I seemed to get so many nowadays.

_I don't judge you. Love is blind, and you and Jasper are perfect for each other, Rosalie and Emmett can see that too – A. _

I smiled. Trust Alice to say something that would make me feel better. I could see hatred and prejudice out of everyone else's eyes. I knew that it was going to be alright, any way that we put it. Jasper and I were in love, give over.

There was a knock on the door. Rosalie rolled her eyes and I approached Alice. She gave me a sisterly hug. I guess that I had completely forgiven her for what she may have done for me; she pulled through and acted like a sister when I needed her to be one.

"Jerkward wants to see you," Rosalie muttered next to me.

"Jerkward?"

"Jerk Edward, don't ask," Alice said. I looked at the door. Rosalie really did mean that _she didn't let pigs in the house_. I walked over to the door and closed it behind me. I could hear the faint beats of the music.

"Edward," I said cautiously.

"Bella, I know how bad you must feel, and I'm here for you," he replied, "I mean, Jasper turning out to be your twin brother. That explains so much, I guess."

"Edward," I said, but he interrupted.

"You want to see a movie?" he said with his perfect smile.

"Edward," I said repeated, "Just because Jasper is my twin brother it doesn't mean that we're going to stop dating, I mean, we're going to figure it out.

Edward's face dropped, which was kind of hard to see, because of the massive Band Aid or cast on his nose.

"Bella, this isn't marriage counselling, there is nothing to figure out apart from this being incest," Edward said, his green eyes glinting with severity.

"Whatever, Jerkward." I turned away from him and walked back to the party.

*

"I have something to report, directly to Chief Charlie Whitlock," Edward said into his cell phone, "it's about his children." He paused and nodded as he agreed with some control questions. He smirked as he was put on Chief Whitlock's direct line.

"Chief Whitlock, it would seem your children are willing to commit incest, and in Washington that is a Class B or C felony, which subjects them to a long time in jail, you better sort this out before I go to someone with higher authority." Edward finished the call. He looked back at the house from the window of his Volvo.

"I had to do it, Bella."

* * *

_The chapter title is in reference to Jason DeRulo's "Whatcha Say" which would like form some of the basis of this chapter. _

_And this is the second last chapter. How sad is that? I never actually thought I'd finish Almost Lover, and when I wrote the first plan for it in 2007, I didn't think I'd stick to it, the ending, I mean. _

_Reviews are gladly accepted, so are Oreos. _


	13. Meet me on the Equinox

_Disclaimer to Stephenie Meyer._

_This is the last chapter of Almost Lover._

_Before you read it, I just want to thank you guys for supporting Almost Lover for so long, and I hope I've given you the ending that you like._

* * *

There was a loud knock. Not a loud knock that precedes something nice and kind. The kind of loud knock that let people know there was trouble. That was why most people had to scramble out of Rosalie's back door as if the police were at the front door. Little did they know they were right. About the police. Except they were frightened about the wrong thing. When Rosalie opened the door, she gasped and took a step back.

"Mr. Whitlock? What a surprise!" Rosalie exclaimed. Jasper and I stared at each other in pure horror. No, Edward did _not_. Edward did not get the police involved. Edward did not get our father involved. Mr. Whitlock scanned the room, and when his eyes reached Jasper and I, he pursed his lips. He pointed at us and motioned for us to follow him. Everyone stared at us as we left, hand in hand. We didn't care. We didn't think anyone else should care.

"What do you think you two are doing?" Mr. Whitlock asked, as soon as we were out of earshot of the party.

"Acting normal, isn't that what you wanted, normality?" Jasper shot back. I was slightly taken aback. I had never seen Jasper act so disrespectfully towards an adult. Mr. Whitlock seemed to notice that too.

"Jasper, don't you dare take that tone of voice with me," he said pointing a finger at his son's face. Jasper looked sorely tempted to break that finger.

"Mr. Whitlock," I started to say, but he interrupted me.

"Call me dad, or Charlie."

I shook my head, "If I call you either it would seem as if you were my father, but for most of my life, my father has been dead. I can't change that. To me, my father is dead. It is not as if you have done your fatherly duties in the first place, I can't bring myself to even think that you are my father."

"I feel the same about Renee," Jasper said quickly, "Except I can call her Renee because I've met her before."

"You can't change, fact, Bella," Mr. Whitlock said, openly glaring at Jasper, "Fact, I'm your father. Fact, Jasper is your fraternal twin brother. Fact, what you're doing is incest. Fact, you could be arrested."

"So are you going to do it?" Jasper asked cockily, his eyes narrowing. Mr. Whitlock spluttered.

"How dare you suggest that I would-would?" Mr. Whitlock stammered before composing himself, "that I would put my integrity on the line for you two!"

"So, you would arrest us," Jasper said, rolling his eyes, "if you saw me..."

He kissed me just to finish his sentence. Not that I didn't enjoy it. Not that Mr. Whitlock was happy about it. I could almost see a vein pulsate in his temple. I bet if you touched him, he would be red hot because his blood was boiling.

"So, you're serious about this?" Mr. Whitlock said, his hands dangerously close to his handcuffs. Jasper could see it too. His lowered his mouth near my ear.

"He's faking it, he does it all the time. Just on my count, on three," he whispered.

"I'm serious about it," speaking up.

"As am I, one doesn't give up love just for the sake of the social norm," Jasper said staring point blank at his father. I was sure that had been a number. I tensed just in case it was.

"I mean, I'm sure you love Renee too, you should know how we feel," continued Jasper. His hand clutched mine just a little tighter.

"That's not the point," Mr. Whitlock said, his eyes looked dangerous.

"That is the point, you just can't accept it," Jasper said. He broke his gaze off his father.

"I can't accept it because no one can accept incest because it's wrong!" His father shouted.

"Too bad. THREE."

With that Jasper and I sped for Alice's Porsche, seeing as Jasper still had the keys. We were there before Mr. Whitlock had noticed anything. By the time we were in the car and reversing out of the drive, he had his radio in his hand. It would seem as if this was going to be the largest scandal in Forks, it also seemed as if Mr. Whitlock was going to take us down. I told Jasper this, but he raced on. If I didn't believe that he could drive well I would have been afraid that we would crash somewhere. He raced down some unknown road. In the distance I could almost hear police sirens. Jasper's eyes widened as he realised we were being chased. Comprehension dawned in his mind.

"They're not going to give up," he said.

"I know."

He looked at me as he did a U-Turn, and sped in the opposite direction. We went past the police cars like lightning.

"They're never going to give up," I said aloud.

"Bella," Jasper said, giving me a pensive stare, "do you _really _love me?"

"Yes, I _really do_," I answered back reflexively. Jasper's face hardened.

"Would you even go as far as saying as dying for me?" Jasper continued to ask.

"Most probably, yes."

I don't know how Jasper took the answer, but I knew he was headed for Forks rather than out of it as he had before. He probably knew that the police were going to catch up with us. I wondered how Jasper was going to get us out of this. I wondered how a few hours ago we were just graduating. Stupid Bella, why had I let intuition get a hold of me? If I had shut up before, instead of gone blundering ahead towards Mr. Whitlock, this wouldn't have happened.

"I should have known that if Mr. Whitlock was my father, you'd be my twin, it's all my fault," I said aloud accidentally.

"Bella, don't you dare blame yourself for this, it's Charlie and Renee's fault if it's anyone's fault, they shouldn't have done what they did," Jasper said through gritted teeth. He slowed the car down. The air was silent, there was no one following us. Jasper got out of the car, but left the keys in the ignition so Alice could get her car back. I got out of the car meekly and tried to recognise the area. I saw Jasper motioning for me to follow him. I did. He was going into the forest. I suddenly recognised where he was headed. Towards the waterfall...

*

**Romeo died, Juliet survived**

_What seemed like a fairytale, turned out to a nightmare for fraternal twins Jasper Whitlock and Bella Swan. 18 years ago, the twins were split as their parents split with each other and decided to live separately. The parents even had concocted a flawless plan to make sure that the twins didn't ever wonder where their father or mother were. The only flaw in the plan was the parents had never suspected that their children would meet each other one day and fall in love. They could have stayed together forever. Except, when everyone crossed paths at the Forks High annual graduation, the truth came out. _

_After realising this, it is suspected that Jasper and Bella decided to carry on their incestuous relationship despite it being a Class B or Class C felony in the State of Washington. After a police tip-off, Chief Whitlock allegedly warned the pair to call it quits, or they would be in a lot of trouble with the police. Deciding 'love' was worth more than a prison sentence, they ran, and this is where Chief Whitlock had to make a decision._

_The department must be proud that Chief Whitlock would rather protect the integrity of his position than his own children as he radioed all units to pursue the pair. At first, according to police reports, they were headed for the outskirts of Forks, but knowing that they couldn't run away with the police always on their tail, they turned back and headed for the forest. _

_What shook the first responders wasn't the fact that the pair where in a position where they could be arrested, but what the pair had done. They had known they couldn't run away, so they decided to do something that would stop them running. _

_Jasper Whitlock, 18, is the only known casualty, of the jump. It seemed as if Bella Swan, also 18, had survived the jump from the top of the waterfall, although she is in hospital recovering. According to post-mortem reports, Jasper Whitlock died from a snapped neck, due to the velocity he fell at. It was almost as if Bella had a guardian angel protecting her, and police quote her as 'very lucky'._

_Friends feel as if they were deliberately targeted, some even going as far as saying, "You should have left them alone, they were in love. Haven't any of you ever been in love?"_

_Do you think that love is an allowable factor in incest, or is incest truly wrong? Please send us your answers and we'll post them in our next segment on this truly gripping story._

*

**Eulogy for Jasper Whitlock, by Bella Swan**

_If there was going to be someone I had to write and eulogy, I never thought it would be Jasper at this stage in my life. You may think that I'm a sick person, a sick person that should have just given up. Yet, if you were in my position to say, "No, I'm going to fight for this love."_

_I've known Jasper for most of my life. We met at elementary school. He hit another kid in our class because that other child stole my crayons. From them, Jasper has always been my best friend. As we grew older, I bonded closer to him when he told me he had a dead twin called Jason, I knew what I felt like to have a dead twin, because for as long as I remember I've always had a dead twin. You think I should have seen the connection there, but I'd never thought that the boy who protected me would be the boy who would turn out to be my long-lost twin. But this, eulogy isn't about me, it's about Jasper. Anyway, people said that we were going to grow apart soon, especially after I moved to Phoenix, but I still got letters upon letters from Jasper, I think he wrote one every day, just to tell me what had happened in his day. I wrote back, but not in the frequency he wrote to me. I didn't know then that Jasper had harboured a secret crush on me. _

_Then I returned back to Forks, and settled back into lessons. That's when Jasper had a new friend. I felt hurt and rejected, but Jasper assured me that I would always be his best friend. I found other friends. Then, of course, came high school. High school had been a tumult of emotions. Through my introductions, Jasper met his first girlfriend. I was already in a happy settled relationship myself, but one day Jasper found his first girlfriend cheating on him, with my boyfriend. We severed lies with love. We fought for the first time, over something stupid. That was when I realised that I was lost without Jasper. There were signs that we were falling in love. Maybe it was because of stress, but there were more and more signs of Jasper being my twin. I bet you're thinking that I'm sick that I should be punishable by law by falling in love with someone I suspected was my twin. I loved Jasper, so I put all these thoughts aside._

_Then graduation and the events thereafter. Maybe I should write about our last conversation, in more depth, in a way that there was no mistaking it, or the media twisting what exactly was said._

_After realising where I was, near the waterfall that Jasper treasured so much, I couldn't speak. I walked behind him, and for half an hour, we reached the top. We stood there and admired the beautiful landscape. _

"_I love you, Bella," Jasper said wistfully, tears in his eyes. _

"_I love you too," I replied. I'd noticed he was teetering on the end of the waterfall. I shook my head. My eyes were brimming with tears as well._

"_Don't do it, Jazz. Just, we could run away," I sobbed._

"_Wherever we run, wherever we are, they'll be people after us. They'll follow us and separate us. I can't bear being separated from you," Jasper said softly. _

"_We could go abroad," I reasoned. I tried to pull him back._

"_No, it'll never work. They'll be watching at Customs, we can't do anything but this."_

"_Jasper, please," I begged, tears streaming down my face._

"_Do it with me," Jasper said, "we'll die together. We'll go to heaven or somewhere together, or reincarnate and find a way of being together in our next life."_

_I stared at him, he held out a hand for me to take. _

"_Thus with a kiss, I die." Jasper quoted before placing a kiss on my lips. I broke away._

"_Thy lips are warm," I quoted. Jasper hiccupped through his tears._

"_For there was no story with more woe, than this of Bella, and eternally hers, Jasper," Jasper said, changing the quote slightly through his tears. He grabbed me and plunged backwards into the inky depths of the waterfalls. The crash noise around us was overwhelming. I felt Jasper's grip fall slightly and I knew what had happened. I wished that it would happen for me too._

_It never did. And now, as I sit in hospital, alive, I couldn't regret more that I hadn't died. _

*

"Are you sure?" the man asked me in the coffee house.

"I'm very sure," I replied. He smiled. He handed me a brown envelope. I handed one back. Inside, I could see fake IDs and fake passports. Excellent.

"Nice doing business with you," he said before standing up, he held out a hand and I flinched. I remembered that moment that changed my life. He noticed my reaction and he simple tipped his hat before leaving. I nodded at him and finished my coffee. I let the bitter taste swirl around on my taste buds. I lifted up my large luggage bag and left money on the table. I walked out passing by the large window next to the door. I could see my new reflection. I was no longer brunette. My hair had been dyed blonde, and I wore blue-eyed contacts. If it could be credited, I did look like Jasper's twin. At least, that was the best I could do.

I opened the door and started my new life, as Bella Whitlock.

_Goodbye, my Almost Lover. Goodbye, my hopeless dream. _

I took a detour. Just for the last time. I walked to the cemetery that was near the coffee house. I wandered across the familiar path.

_Here lies Jasper Whitlock._

_September 13__th__ 1987 – May 7__th__ 2006_

_Beloved Son, Brother and Lover. _

"I love you, Jasper," I said as I left his grave for the last time. I dug a hole next to his grave and dropped my half of the necklace in it, forever keeping his one. I touched his grave and turned my back. I turned my back on my old life.

_So long my luckless romance. _

* * *

_Wow. It's over. I actually can't believe it. I'm really glad with the ending, although some things have changed in the story, the ending was the same as the original. Also, the two in the middle are newspaper articles which propel the story forward. The last two quotes, or italicised phrases, are lyrics from 'Almost Lover' by A Fine Frenzy. The chapter title reference is the Death Cab for Cutie song "Meet me on the Equinox" which heavily inspired this chapter with its repetitive phrase "everything ends."_

_Thanks for sticking by Almost Lover for all this time! _

_Love, bexx. _

_PS, thank you Carmen, my sister, for giving me this idea._


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